


p-o-t-s-s

by orphan_account



Category: November Rain - Guns N' Roses (Music Video)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:21:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 131,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1.**

This situation was one he never would have imagined himself getting into.

The chains that were kept tight remained heavy at both his wrists and ankles. His position within the dark and damp room was supported with only a single dim candle that hung above in a lantern, which from his prediction, was on the verge of burning out of wax within the next 20 minutes or so.

Slowly, he brought one of his weighted hands upward to run through his dirty hair.

Louis never would have pictured himself in this situation a couple hours ago when he had been pouting and sulking over the fact that he was crossing the English Channel toward France to begin his cultural studies away from home that would assist him when he ascended to the throne from Prince to King of the United Kingdom.

Now, that was a thought of the past all because of the pirates.

Pirates…

They had come so swiftly within the night, like a lightning strike precise and quicker than you can register.

The ship had been invaded by a swarm of the sea criminals and he’d tried to take cover, but he himself knew that once the ship was taken over, there was no stopping them. He had told them they could take all that they wanted; just spare the ship and the crew along with it.

Not that his words as a royal had any effect on the disgusting bunch.

He’d nearly been killed with a bullet to his throat when Eleanor had cried out his name from the arms of another pirate where she had been viciously struggling.

His identity as Prince had been disclosed instantly, and instead of being shot, one of pirate’s crew commanded that he be spared. Their accents had been English, but it did nothing to narrow down the possibilities of whose ship he’d been shackled, gagged, and blind folded onto.

Just like that, Louis Tomlinson had been whisked away from his Royal ship and onto the more unpredictable, unknown ship of a group of pirates.

After the lad who had brought him into this room chained him up to the walls, and locked him left, Louis found himself wondering about a lot of things, especially when he felt the ship begin moving minutes after.

He was probably the only one from that ship still alive.

Everyone else was probably dead.

He tried not to think too hard about it, as the simple proposition that Eleanor’s lifeless body was somewhere under the waves of the English Channel, was enough to bring tears to his blindfolded eyes… Not only that, knowing how dirty and ruthless pirates could be, his life would more or less likely be ending somewhere along the line.

It was all hopeless.

Who would have thought the Prince of the United Kingdom would be left like this?

Time moved unbelievably slowly within the humid room. Every move the ship took, Louis could feel and though the waves outside had been rather docile the last he checked, he still felt massive nausea from the rocking that he was unwillingly focusing on.

He scowled heavily as he heard the chattering of men bypass the door in the hallway outward. The pirates he was dealing with were apparently of mixed nationalities. The voices he heard seemed to be of two males, one was definitely Irish.

When the voices and footsteps died off, Louis felt himself relax considerably.

Though they weren’t there for him, eventually  _someone_ would be.

In the mean time, he turned his thoughts back to everyone else…

How would his parents react when they found out that his boat hadn’t arrived in France in the morning as planned? How would the country react? The sole male heir to the British throne was gone. Might as well be accounted as deceased.

His mother would cry, no doubt. Grief would rip at his father’s soul as well.

Both undeniably taking pain in the fact it was their decision to send him to France to study abroad.

Louis just wished he could somehow tell them that none of this was their fault. It was these damned pirates.

These damned, selfish, better off fucking dead, pirates.

If Louis had it his way, he’d send them all straight to the gallows a million times over.

They were all so  _selfish_.

Nothing but a bunch of petty criminals looting ships and killing innocents.

Footsteps were heard from down the hall, rapidly approaching his door and Louis allowed his thoughts to dissolve in order to focus on the impending couple that talked from outside the thin walls of the room.

“Tell Zayn I said thanks for getting all of that straightened out by the way. Christ, if I had been there I’m pretty sure all of them would have been tossed overboard by now.”

A laugh was heard, further from the voice that was quite obviously by the door,

“Gotcha, Capt! Also, with all the silk we got, Liam and I were wondering if we should keep it in the treasury room or your own private quarters.”

The voice was Irish accented and Louis was instantly able to recall it as one of the passing voices from earlier.

With a bitter scowl, he knew the silk had been from his boat.

The silk was worth  _so much_  and it was stolen by these unworthy pieces of filth like it was nothing.

“Treasury room is fine, Niall… Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an important date with a special someone.”

The tone of voice from the speaker did nothing short but bring infuriation to Louis’s blood despite himself. He did  _not_ like how that man was talking… It was too cocky.

“Oh? You mean the Prince? This is his room, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I’ve been too busy dealing with the other technicalities on the ship and I just wanted to spend the rest of my night with him.”

“Oh ho ho! Well then, Captain Styles! Don’t let me cockblock your game! I’ll just be on my way to the treasury room now!” With that and a loud ring of laughter, the Irish toned voice seemingly disappeared down the hall.

A creak to the door sounded throughout Louis’s ears, and the brunette stiffened immediately as he was tossed out of his thoughts. The door was opened, and the presence of another person within the room made the royal hold in his breath stilly.

Captain Styles.

That man outside called him  _Captain Styles_.

Panic began to seep into Louis’s body as he thought about this situation more.

The same Captain Styles that had invaded, looted, and sunken just about 600 ships in a single year. The Captain known throughout the British Isles as the Prince of the CrimsonSea, due to the amount of blood that spilled within the water whenever he robbed a ship. The Captain who was rumored to be the most brutal and deadliest pirate to ever dominate the waters of the world.

The infamous Harry Styles, Prince of the Seven Seas.

Louis was on his ship.

Death was imminent no matter what he did.

More over prepared for something like a punch or slap to the face, Louis grunted lowly as he lowered his head toward the floorboards. He bit his bottom lip silently as he prepared for something like a bullet to the foot, though it never came.

Instead, he found himself stiffening as he felt a pair of hands at their side of his head.

In front of him, he could practically see the silhouette of the pirate as he felt the blindfold over his eyes loosen before being pulled away.

Louis’s eyes were instantly met with light for the first time in hours, and the new face of a smirking, curly haired brunette.

“Hm… You have some pretty eyes.”

He had to blink a few times to make sure he was processing everything properly.

This young man, literally  _young_ man was Harry Styles?

This had to be a joke.

He couldn’t have been any older than 17!

Louis himself wasn’t so old, only 20 in fact, but regardless, this was  _the_ Harry Styles? The pirate that struck fears into sailors everywhere? The coldblooded murder of the seven seas?

You had to be fucking him.

“Don’t touch me!” Louis instantly hissed while pulling his head backward, a glare focusing in Harry’s face intently, “Don’t you dare put your hands on me again, you filthy criminal!”

Seemingly unprepared for this reaction, Harry’s mouth opened in the shape of an ‘o’ as he watched back at Louis, his eyes first brimming in confusion that was sharply over taken with amusement.

Louis grunted as he tried pushing himself against the wall behind him, his hands sliding on the wooden floor smoothly, “I demand that you release me! Right this second, you hear me!? I will not remain captive to some child playing pirate!”

He had to keep firm in what he wanted.

Harry, however looked far from intimidated, in fact his smirk seemed to grow as he watched Louis plainly, “You know, even amongst pirates, when meeting someone you tend to introduce yourself. Here I was thinking that as a Royal you’d have more manners than the men I deal with. Haha, some Prince you are.”

This boy couldn’t be serious.

He was mocking him.

Louis gritted his teeth, “Like I give a damn about manners! I don’t want to be here! Unchain me and send me back to England right now!”

“All I want you to do is introduce yourself to me. It isn’t that hard you know. Now stop shouting, I’m right next to you…” Harry remarked with a shake to his head as he moved from squatting on the floor to sitting.

Seeing this as a sign that the two would be within the room for a while longer considering this was an act of getting comfortable, Louis inwardly cursed.

“If I introduce myself to you, will you release me?” He knew the answer, but it was worth trying.

Harry hummed lightly, his eyes watching at him slyly, “Maybe. Who knows?”

It was a hollow response because the both of them knew he wouldn’t do anything of the sort, and if he did it was an immediate act of God on Louis’s part.

Louis grimaced while averting his attention away from Harry’s face, “I’m Louis Tomlinson, Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland though I’m sure you already knew that.” He tried to keep the higher tone of voice when speaking his title to let this boy know that even if he was being held captive, he was  _still_ of higher rank that him.

Harry chuckled, “You’re certainly sassy for a Prince. More like a Princess in my opinion. But anyways, it’s a  _pleasure_ to meet you, Your Highness.” His tone was mocking and Louis wished his hands were free so he could knock the arrogant little shit in the mouth. The cocky smirk on his lips was aggravating.

“My name is Harry Styles, Prince of the Seven Seas and Captain of this ship, One Direction; though I’m sure you already knew that.” Harry jeered out before his hand was caught under Louis’s chin. The royal hardly had time to resist before his head was forcibly turned to face the young Captain who had an egotistical smirk on his face, “Welcome onboard my ship because you’re not coming off anytime soon.”

Shaking his head for release, Louis brought his eyes to leer at him, “Don’t. Touch. Me.”

“I still need to go over a few rules that the One Direction has as you seem to be a rather wild passenger.” Harry shook his head almost pitifully as he began standing to his feet.

Louis glared down at the floor loathingly before he heard the curly haired man begin speaking once more, “But I’ll tell you the first and most important rule right as of now, Princess.”

Without warning, Louis found himself releasing a strangled gasp as his neck was pulled upwardly roughly as a cold and thick metal collar was clasped over his neck tightly by Harry as the pirate stared down into Louis’s eyes as he bent downward at him, the captain’s eyes filled with nothing but brutality that managed to put Louis’s voice at a halt of all protests.

Harry let out a breath, more husky than before as he watched down at Louis stoically, “Everyone and everyone on this ship belongs to  _me_ , the Captain. It doesn’t matter who you are or how you feel about it. If you’re on this ship, you are  _mine_. And don’t you dare think otherwise.”

Before Louis could even register the threateningly calm words into his mind, Harry released the rope end of the collar and stormed out of the room.

With his throat now left for open air, but the silver collar still over his neck, Louis panted lowly as he touched the tight neck piece. Squinting under the dim light in the room, his eyes moved to touch the rope piece of the collar Harry had been pulling before.

Again, he had to think with extreme bitterness and anger; who would have thought the Prince of the United Kingdom would be left like this?

**Chapter 2.**

Time was unbearably slow.

Though it was slow, Louis had to say he was grateful in a way.

Harry hadn’t put the blind fold back over his eyes before he stomped off and with that, Louis got a full view of the dark and damp room he sat in. To say the place was horrible would be an understatement. Nothing but closed walls, a single lantern-candle above that had burned out of wax ages ago, and a door straight ahead that kept him reminded that he was a prisoner… Well, that and practically everything else around him.

His good clothes were further dirtied from sitting on the grim coated floorboards. Having that in mind, he could only imagine how torn up he looked.

Even if the capture of his ship had to only have been a few hours back, Louis knew that he must have looked a mess. From his resistance since he’d been subdued and tied he had worked up a sweat and being placed in this salt smelling box, it wasn’t exactly helping him. Around him he could feel every rock the ship made and at any rate he could assume his position on the massive boat was toward the lower levels.

Louis’s thoughts fleeted to his fate at this point.

He knew wasn’t going to be killed, or at least he wasn’t going to be just yet. 

His fingers trailed over the cold collar fastened to his neck. Even though his wrists were still heavy and gave the low clanks while he moved, it was the reminder of his lifeline that extended out farther than those not so fortunate.

The only he was still alive and collared was because he was a prince… He’d have to be daft to not know that.

His knowledge of the slave trade was vastly limited though considering how Harry just shackled him and left, it was kind of safe to assume that though Louis wouldn’t be on the ship very long, when he got off, things wouldn’t be much brighter.

From a prince to someone’s slave.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

He’d refuse and defy everything. He would much rather jump overboard while doing a barrel roll to be at the mercy of the sea creatures down under. His fall from grace would be one that was honorable at the very least.

The familiar sound of feet moving in favor of the hall hit Louis’s ears and he found himself tensing up instantly.

Louis released a preparatory breath and pushed himself against the wall behind him to sit more upright as the door knob audibly turned and was opened,

“Certainly is dark in here… Harry didn’t think to change the light in the candle before he ran to take his wank?”

Clearly a male with a young voice, Louis found himself watching up through his hair as the stranger, with an oil lamp clutched by the handle. A lad with a brown hair that appeared somewhat exasperated by everything in the room.

“Christ and look at this room… What the hell was Harry thinking?” He ran a hand through his hair as placed the burning lamp on the hook that once held the lifeless candle in replacement.

Unable to help himself, Louis cringed, “I doubt he’s capable of doing that. I’m willing to bet that he never had a proper education.”

He didn’t know why he talked. Honestly, the man within the room with him could have very well just turned to him and slapped or kicked him for speaking ill of the captain of the ship, not to mention it wasn’t like Louis’s opinion would mean anything.

“Yeah, you’re right. He doesn’t think much… Or at all.” The words weren’t laced with sarcasm as Louis intentionally expected, “But anyways, I’m Liam, the First Mate of One Direction.”

“Charmed.” Louis cynically remarked, his body not relaxing against the man within the room.

He was a criminal after all, no matter how harmless he seemed…

Liam didn’t seem to pay much attention to Louis’s clear underlying message of ‘Fuck off’ and whistled lowly, “So, do you want to stay in those clothes all night or would you rather I fetch something for you?” He arched a brow in curiosity and the royal found himself perking up.

Biting his bottom lip, Louis sighed, “Is that an empty offer and you’re just getting my hopes up for nothing?”

“I would ask why you wouldn’t believe me, but then again I suppose if I were in your position I would trust no man on this ship.” Liam chuckled out lowly, “I may be a wanted criminal, but I see no need to lie about something as petty as clothing.”

Louis scowled lightly… As appealing as a change of clothes seemed, he much rather take a bath first before that change.

He contemplating asking for a bath, but he had a feeling the ship was void of anything rooms to do so.

Disgusting pirates.

He truly had nothing to lose, so he nodded his head.

Liam smiled, “Brilliant.” He approached the seated royal before he went fished in his pocket for a large bundle of keys. Despite the fact that all looked basically like clones, Liam appeared to know them apart as he sorted through them all on the single metal ring they were lined up on.

“What are you doing, Liam?”

The familiar voice was enough to send a groan out of Louis’s mouth as he rested his forehead on his arm.

Harry stood by the door, an eyebrow raised upward as he watched ahead at the pair in what seemed to be annoyance.

Liam’s eyes looked upward to the ceiling before he released a sigh and turned to face the young captain at the door way. “I was just—“

“When I asked what you were doing, I really meant, ‘Have fun on your way out.’” He curtly intervened, “Didn’t I order you to take care of that captive woman before I went off to my quarters? How is it that you ended up here?”

Captive woman…?

Could that be someone from Louis’s ship!? He wasn’t the only survivor!?

Louis’s mind instantly began to race at the differently possibilities of who could still be alive and well for the moment.

Eleanor… Oh god. She could still be alive!

“You see, you ordered Danielle, Niall, and I to take care of the remaining prisoners. Considering there are only three left, I figured you meant him in the mix as well and since you said we aren’t to harm him, I was offering him a change of clothes to be more ‘homely’.” He added air quotes to the word, though that suspicious gesture was the last thing on Louis’s mind.

That woman could be Eleanor!

“That woman! Liam, do you know her name!?” Louis desperately questioned the brunet that turned his head backward at him curiously, though before he could respond, Harry was speaking,

“I thought I was essentially clear when I said from the beginning that the only person allowed to visit the Princess was me. I don’t want the others on the ship getting a hold of him lest something happen that would ruin my plans.”

Too warped up in his thoughts on Eleanor, Louis didn’t have time to reprimand Harry on the ‘Princess’ comment, instead he gave a loud shout, “Hey! I’m trying to fucking ask him a question, okay!?” He barked out to both pirates that were instantly silenced as they turned to the chained male in surprise at his outburst.

Huffing, Louis moved his leer from Harry to Liam, “That woman… Do you know her name?”

Liam shook his head, “Uh, no. I didn’t even get a chance to see her. Danielle was the one that took care of her.”

Louis instantly began cursing beneath his breath rapidly. He didn’t like the way he said ‘took care of her’… Right as he sat, Eleanor could be dying… If to say, she was even Eleanor. It could have just been some random maid from the boat that Louis didn’t even know.

“Let’s say I knew her name.” Harry’s voice broke the silence.

Louis reluctantly brought his head upward to watch at the curly haired captain that sauntered more into the room, his walk confident and powerful, “What do you want to know?”

“You’re a liar.”

“True. But I am a captain. I always make it a responsibility of mine to stop by each prisoner’s room after we’ve captured them so I can get to know them. Don’t think just because you’re royalty you were the only one.” He winked at him with a smirk and Louis cringed in disgust.

Harry chuckled, “Her name is Eleanor Calder. A pretty girl she is… That’s why I made sure she wasn’t killed when we looted your ship. With looks like that, she could go for a lot of money to a man willing to pay enough.”

Unable to help himself, Louis gritted his teeth, “So where is she right now?”

“In her quarters, more than likely with Danielle if what Liam said is true… Why are you so concerned? She’s just a servant girl. She shouldn’t mean anything to you, Princess unless you two have something going on that I should know about.”

The last part of his sentence was said with a different tone unlike the rest of his speech that gave Louis a feeling that Harry was beginning to go Captain Styles on him once more like he had before the collar had been slapped on his neck.

Not wanting to receive something else like a chain-linked collar, Louis resisted the urge to groan and tried to remain firm to show he wasn’t afraid, “It’s none of your fucking business why I’m concerned. I also suggest you  _stop_ calling me Princess before I—“

A knock was heard on the door and Louis found himself pausing his words as someone stuck their head in with a grin,

“So, the chef just finished cooking, guys!”

A blonde haired male happily exclaimed, his expression incredibly excitedly and lit up with a flask of innocence that made Louis’s eyes squint. His tone was matched in Louis’s mind with the same Irish pirate that had passed the door along with Harry before he’d met the insufferable captain.

But now that he got a look at him… The blonde looked vaguely familiar…

Liam nodded slowly, his eyes cautiously eyeing the glee-filled youth who couldn’t have been any older than Louis himself…

It seemed like a majority of the crew was younger than 30!

“Thanks for the news report, Niall.” Liam remarked as he sped walked past Harry, “You know what, I am pretty hungry though. The chef cooked the stuff we stole from Louis’s ship right? Well, sounds great. Sorry, Louis! Bye, Harry!” Liam’s hands made it to Niall’s shoulders while he guided him out the room and down the hall way causing the Irishman blinked in confusion,

“Wait, what?”

“Let’s go, Niall!”

With the two gone, Louis grunted as he turned his attention back to the sole other being within the cramped room.

The arrogant, cocky Captain Styles.

Harry flipped his hair with a breath, “Any who, I came here to let you know that I got a bath ready for you, Princess. I know you royals constantly take bathes like no bodies business so I thought setting one up would make you feel more at home.”

The undertone of mockery in those words made Louis crazy.

Couldn’t this dick head see that in reality, Louis was much bigger than him?

“I want to see Eleanor.” Louis stated with no mind to what Harry had just informed him.

The Prince of the Seven Seas arched a brow, “Unfortunately, visiting hours are over for the day. Now, I suggest you get yourself ready for your bath.”

“First of all, I don’t give a damn if ‘visiting hours’ are over! I just want to talk to her at least once, which shouldn’t be such a big deal! And how the fuck am I supposed to get ready for a bath!? Repeat that sentence and look at me all chained to the fucking wall and tell me to get ready again! What do you want me to do!? Grab a towel and some soap!?” Louis snapped out in impatience.

His temper boiled over and he kept a steady glower on the standing brunet.

Harry took his shouts with a grain of salt however, “Alright, I’ll make a deal with you, Your Highness. If you take agree to the bath without any pouts or royal complaints, I’ll let you visit your precious Eleanor.”

Louis heaved a breath, but nodded silently.

He had not the slightest clue how this was even a deal… Louis was benefiting from it on both sides.

A bath  _and_ he got to see Eleanor, whom he hoped was doing well enough considering the circumstances.

As Harry got to his knees and approached himself over Louis, the royal found himself stiffening as the captain began to crouch over him to unlock the metal cuffs. Wordlessly, Louis eyed as the male expertly and smoothly worked with unlocking both his wrists and ankles.

“If you try to escape, you’ll be sorry. So don’t even try.” Harry warned out simply as he stood up.

Louis couldn’t help but counter, “Where am I suppose to escape? The shopping centre down the street?”

Harry didn’t reply and Louis had to roll his eyes while he worked on massaging his sore wrists…

They were red and bruised and still held a dull pain to them.

When Harry began walking out, Louis struggled on his weak legs to catch up to the retreating captain that didn’t seem at all concerned with the royal’s slower walking abilities. The two made it out into the hall and as they walked past all the numerous doors, Louis found himself wondering how it is that this man was actually Harry Styles.

“What do you even plan on doing with me?” He found himself asking in curiosity, not fear.

Harry didn’t turn around, his swagger not failing, “I’ll be honest. I know I can get a lot of money out of you from others eager to get their hands on any of the Royal Family… But I’m not either a money grabber or one to kill for vengeance… Well, I am in both respects, but not in this case. My plans with you are fairly complicated… I’m still sorting it out in my head, but don’t worry about it.” Harry waved off uncaringly, as though Louis’s own fate was none of the importance.

Louis actually found himself gaping at the back of Harry’s head, “You can’t be serious.”

“Hm?”

“You’re an asshole, you know that right!? You can’t tell me not to worry about my life! What do you even want with me!? If it’s not money or revenge against my family, what!? There’s honestly nothing else I can give you!” He insisted heavily,

Harry gave a chuckle as he halted his steps and turned to face the fuming prince, “That’s a lie.”

Confused, Louis watched Harry size him with a skeptical hand to his chin, “What is that even supposed to mean?” Louis inquired in irritation. He didn’t like the way Harry was staring at him.

Harry shook his head, “You ask a lot of questions.”

“You don’t have many answers.”

“Touché. But I have a question… What’s your relationship with this Eleanor girl? She your girlfriend?” He was back to walking forward and Louis grimaced, “Eleanor? My girlfriend? No. Don’t get me wrong, she’s lovely, but she’s just a close friend of mine. Not that it’s any of your business.”

It was true.

Eleanor was just a close friend. She was the daughter of Louis’s personal nurse and the two had grown up together as best friends. She was someone that he had been glad was traveling with him to France, but since the whole pirate-invasion… He wasn’t so glad about that anymore.

“Right, right.” Harry airily said as though he hadn’t even been listening, “But look, I changed my mind. You can talk to her after your bath.”

Louis gave the captain a furious look that wasn’t seen, “What!? Why!?”

“Because I changed my mind. Nothing else to it. I am the captain and I suggest you don’t question my authority,” He moved his head over to give Louis a smirk that made the prince bit his bottom lip in an attempt to keep all his angry pent up,

“Captain my ass…” Louis muttered beneath his breath in disdain as he kept after Harry.

 

**Chapter 3.**

“Do you really have to stand there?” Louis groaned with a sigh.

After Louis had been escorted to the upper levels of the ship and he had been forced to endure the degrading shouts and sneering exclamations from the various members of the ship’s crew while he followed after Harry who simply laughed at his men’s words as though they were sharing nothing but jokes, Louis had ended up in Harry’s cabin. While pulling Louis’s collar, Harry guided him to a door in the back that led to a bedroom.

It was far smaller from Louis’s own room back at his own palace, and far dirtier. The smell of salt water and algae had been near over-whelming. Harry then began to the rear of the room where a furnace was placed.

Already knowing how those of low class took bathes when the time was given, Louis found himself groaning with a hand to his temple when Harry pulled out the large bathing tub near the lightly burning fireplace.

He had expected Harry to leave once he got settled and aware of where the soap and cleaning devices were, but the captain just stood by the door… Watching him.

Marking the reason why Louis didn’t want to take off his clothes and enter the tub.

“It’s my room.” Harry replied with a shrug, his expression neutral.

Though that was a point to consider, Louis knew it was all bullshit.

“You’re a captain. You should be making sure your ship is alright, shouldn’t you? Not standing in here watching me.” Louis heavily insisted with a cringe to his facial features.

The idea of Harry watching him take off his clothes and take a bath was a thought that sent shivers down the royal’s back. It was creepy not to mention repulsive. Someone like him didn’t have a right to look at him in plain form let alone without anything clothing.

Harry’s eyes twinkled in amusement, “I suppose you’re right. But I have to make sure you don’t try to escape. You’re a prisoner on my ship, remember?”

It was hard to forget.

“I don’t see what the problem is… Take off your clothes and get into the tub before the water chills.” Harry insisted with a wave of his hand, his tone more impatient than it previously was.

“The problem is—“

“That was an order. Don’t you dare think for a second you can disrespect an order from your captain.”

Louis halted his words instantly, a scowl fleeting to his lips as he gazed at the curly haired pirate that expectantly eyed him, a strange look of amusement seemed evident within his green eyes and Louis found himself at a dead end.

If he still protested, he knew death wasn’t an outcome…

Noticing the hesitance, Harry scoffed, “I’ll be sure to tell Eleanor that the reason the two of you will never see the other again is due to the fact that you’re too much of a Lady to take off your clothes and take a bath. Hah. I wonder what she’ll have to say to that.”

Even if the words were stated so airily, something in Louis’s brain told him Harry wasn’t lying.

Running a hand through his hair he let out a grunt, “Okay! Okay! Shit, I’ll take a bath with you watching me then!” Turning away from the captain that still managed to maintain a straight-face, Louis went to work with ripping off his shirt as quickly as he could.

Right as he threw off all of his top pieces to the ground and he knew he just had to fit off his layer of bottoms, he took a quick breath as his hands cuffed around the elastic. He could practically feel Harry’s eyes narrowed in on him while he managed to get the last of his clothing off,

Not wanting to be under the captain’s gaze any longer, Louis instantly prepared to jump into the tub; however before he could Harry cleared his throat,

“Before you get in… Turn around.”

Louis bit his bottom lip, already knowing where this was going…

“Excuse me?” He questioned, not even allowing his face to meet with the others, preferring to only have his arse in the direction of the pirate.

In reality, he should have known how stupid getting naked in front of Harry would be. He could only berate himself for finally realizing the true extent to it now. Even with Eleanor and Louis’s own pride placed into the equation, he wasn’t so sure if fighting against this boy for his virginity would be worth it.

Harry was rather skinny looking so Louis more than likely had a chance… If he didn’t include the fact that Harry was rumored to be capable of bench pressing 113 kilograms and had the fighting skills of a champion.

“You heard me. That was an order, Princess.”

Havening a sigh and immediately moving his hands to cover his anterior regions, Louis stiffly rotated his body around to face Harry.

A full out smirk was present on the brunet’s lips and Louis wanted to strangle the little twat.

How  _dare_ he do this to him?

He was a royal reduced to this by that little shit.

He just hoped that Harry wouldn’t be as much as a douchebag to say something like ‘Move your hands because I’m ordering you as captain.’

Louis wouldn’t put it past him as he glared at Harry who seemed to scoping him intently, the sly smile on his face not wavering.

Fuck him.

“Why so shy? No need for the hands to cover yourself up.”

“I’d stay reserved.” Louis shortly remarked, his eyes glancing away, “As a matter a fact I should get into the water before it gets cold now.”

“Oh, no you don’t. I—“

Before Harry could finish, a knock was heard on the door.

With the male distracted, Louis sent a quick thanks to God for watching out for him before he entered the bathtub behind him. His body lowered into the lukewarm water as far as he could to evade any sense of knowledge to Harry’s unfocused presence within the room.

Danielle tried not to sigh as the door to Harry’s bedroom was torn open ever so suddenly, instantly ceasing Liam’s knock over it.

She told them to wait until he came out before asking him about this, but nooooo.

The boys on this ship were so impatient.

Harry glared over all of them as they stood within his cabin room, “What the hell are you guys doing now?”

Behind her, Danielle could feel Eleanor trembling in obvious fear and nervousness. Reassuringly, the female gave a motion to her shoulders to allow the peasant girl to ease up her nerves, though it wasn’t much.

Not that Danielle could blame her.

Harry on his own had the worst temper on the ship and his irritation, which this clearly was, resembled the average pirate’s rage. Lucky enough for her, she’d never been the one his true anger had been directed at.

“Someone’s pouty.” Zayn snorted with his arms crossed over his chest.

Harry sent him a glower and Niall chuckled as he attempted to see past Harry into the bedroom, “I wonder why! What’s going on in there, mate?” He curiously inquired, causing Harry to pull in the door abruptly.

He narrowed his eyes at the blonde, though it did little to settle him down.

“Fucking the prince into the mattress.” Zayn coughed into his fist with an innocent look off that immediately gained a giggle from Danielle and laughs from both Liam and Niall.

Eleanor’s eyes grew slightly wide and Harry rolled his eyes.

The amount of rumors that circulated on the ship from the simple moment of Harry crossing the deck with Louis in a collar stirred up too many hilarious jokes of the two getting into a BDSM relationship within the ship. Danielle took all of these as jokes, not being able to imagine Harry as the type…

Zayn, Niall, and Liam appeared to think otherwise.

“Why haven’t I tossed you all overboard yet?” Harry dryly questioned,

“Because you need us, mate.” Liam answered, “You need us.”

“Yeah, not like how he needs the prince though…” Niall wiggled his eyebrows easily earning Zayn and Liam’s laughs.

Danielle shook her head as she shushed the chuckling males, “I know you haven’t tossed me overboard because let’s be honest, among the whole crew of males, you need at least one female on deck to actually keep your sanity straight.”

With Harry’s attention on her along with everyone else, Danielle flipped a piece of her hair with a sigh, “As such, I am making a request to you as the captain of One Direction. Hear me out as a faithful crew member for nearly two years now.” She moved aside and gestured toward Eleanor that shyly watched at Harry as all eyes within the room turned on her.

“I ask that you accept Eleanor onto the crew.”

“I personally sponsored that idea.” Liam threw in helpfully,

Niall and Zayn shrugged, the two looked half-interested in the ordeal, “Another girl on board seems nice.” Niall said simply, “She doesn’t look like she eats as much as Niall so I say why not?” Zayn agreed, though he gained a blank stare from the Irishman in question.

Harry paused thoughtfully, his face contorting up in his thoughts before he glanced backward into his bedroom.

While he did so, Danielle turned around to Eleanor who seemed to be just about ready to pass out from anxiety. Smiling comfortingly, Danielle nodded at her to stay confident and positive before moving back to Harry, who was now turning back to them seriously,

“This is a serious discussion that would require me to put aside everything and talk to you all for a while—“

“Which you can do right now, right?” Niall slowly raised a brow.

Harry opened his mouth, “Well—“

“He can, but he won’t because his pet-prince is chained to the bed right now waiting for him.” Zayn teased with a shrug to his shoulders, easily ignoring Harry’s nasty leer his way.

One thing that Danielle could admire of them…

Harry only seemed to take that kind of talk from Niall, Zayn, and Liam… Anyone else and she was pretty sure Captain Styles would unleash the inner beast and pretty much toss them over the ship with his bare hands.

“You know what? Fuck it. Let’s just get this over with.” Harry groaned as he exited out his bedroom, closing the door behind him slickly before he turned his eyes to Eleanor stoically, “We can talk about this right here and now. Explain.”

**Chapter 4.**

By the time Louis got out of the tub, the water had already been chilled to an uncomfortable degree. He knew for the most part waiting so long in the water was rather risky, considering he had no clue when Harry would enter the room again.

When the captain had exited, he only told Louis to not leave the room until he came back.

Louis had only been grateful that the little pervert was gone.

On the other side of the door, he had heard Niall’s loud voice above all else and perhaps Liam as well? Louis hadn’t been too focused on the conversation; instead he was left to think while he cleansed himself.

Eleanor was meant to be sold off because Harry was a douchebag. How the hell would he even manage to see sweet, innocent Eleanor being shipped off into the black market? The precious girl could hardly bake a cake without burning her finger much less survive getting fucked by some gigantic, burly man who’d most likely buy her.

It was driving Louis’s mind crazy. If he only had himself to worry about, everything would be easier, but he had to try and find a way out of this for Eleanor.

Liam was First Mate of the ship, and lad seemed friendly enough if Louis had any say in the one minute conversation the two held. Perhaps he’d be easy to manipulate? If Louis could get Liam on his side, Liam would be extremely useful in getting both him and Eleanor off of the ship and to freedom.

Louis just had to get to know Liam better, but it’d practically be impossible if Harry would be up his ass every second watching him with those intent green eyes like a hawk.

It was plain to see that Harry had some sort of sadistic feeling in regards to Louis and he had a feeling that the more time he spent on the ship, the more violent Harry’s attitude would become. Sure for now it was suggestive humiliation, but soon enough it’d become more.

At any rate, Harry had some sort of vendetta against the royal family, but that wasn’t much of a surprise.

What pirate captain from the British Isles  _didn’t_ have a problem with them?

Harry’s plans for him were still out in open water aside from the fact that Louis knew he wouldn’t be sold off like Eleanor was supposed to. Though that was good in a way, it also really wasn’t…

The possibilities were seemingly endless. Though the collar signified that he’d live, life would be pretty meaningless if he was set to starve and wilt away from neglect and torture.

It was a scary thing to ponder on, but he knew he had to accept the fact that he wasn’t in calmer tides at the moment… Even if it felt like this was all one twisted nightmare and he’d soon wake up in his large bed, sweating and laughing off the terrible life-like experience.

Until then…

Louis over looked his dirtied clothes with a cringe. He couldn’t put those back on.

He knew he truly had no other alternative and he glanced around the bedroom desperately in search of something that could replace his attire, but when it clicked in his head where he was, he gave his clothing a second glance.

After drying himself off, Louis began slipping his shirt overhead.

Even his dirty clothes were better than touching Harry’s trashy and cheap cloths.

When he was finished, he weighed his current situation…

Harry still wasn’t back.

Although Harry had been firm with telling Louis to not leave the room, this was actually the royal’s golden opportunity to get out and meet up with Liam to possibly discuss business.

Letting out quick breath and patting his wet hair down, Louis stealthily moved toward the single door within the cabin.

His hand clasped over the knob as he leaned his ear against the door for any signs of noise on the other side of the door where Harry’s quarters was.

When he heard nothing else, the brunet slowly turned the doorknob before opening the wooden door.

As expected, the study-based room was empty. Louis remained light on his feet to avoid any unnecessary noises that would alert anyone from anywhere on the ship of his presence despite the fact he was seemingly alone.

Creeping, he moved towards Harry’s large desk which was covered completely with open paper work and envelopes.

If he wanted to escape, knowing where the ship was headed would be a good start. Leaning his head over to read the contents of the letters, Louis tried to pick up some sort of hint to the boat’s route.

Delicately, his hand brushed over the papers to the top that were overlapping the others and he scowled lightly when his results were turning up short…

Journals entries, receipts, calculations, letters…

Moving his hands to shuffle the papers back to how they had previously been to see if he skimmed something over, Louis gave a shiver as a stray draft hit him. His hair still wet was releasing water droplets down his dry back and giving him a chill.

With a rub to his noise he rubbed away a drop of water that had landed on one of Harry’s journal entries that was from apparently two days ago if the day at the top was any asset.

“Defeated the Scarlet Eye’s crew by the Bailiwick of Jersey… More rations from the battle… Liam accounted everything… Hm…” Louis impatiently read over in a low mumble, “Finally let Ryan free from the post from his punishment last week… Crew seemed to be reminded of my lack of tolerance for disobedience…”

Reading the words, Louis felt some unrest entering his stomach.

“No one seems to understand One Direction’s set ideal that treason is treatable with death to those bold enough to oppose the Prince of the Seven Seas himself…” Louis cringed with a scowl, “Cocky little shit…” He grumbled out while his finger trailed down the letter, “Finally heading back to Ireland because—“

_“Wait, Captain where is she going to sleep?”_

The loud voice that was clearer than the other muffled voices outside on deck was enough to make Louis freeze in his spot at Harry’s desk. It was too close for comfort.

_“The hell should I know? Wherever she wants. If she gets raped at night for making the wrong arrangement, it’s not my fault. I’m sure Danielle would be willing to share quarters with her since she seemed so insistent on this.”_

Recognizing Harry’s rapidly approaching voice made Louis grunt as he came to the realization that the captain was on his way to the room once more.

If he saw Louis here, reading through his stuff, he’d be furious.

 _Beyond_ furious.

Knowing danger when he saw it and recognizing this fight or flight situation, Louis immediately attempted to recreate the image of the papers he had once shuffled through before he heard Harry’s hand turn at the knob of the door.

Already aware that he’d never make it to the door back to the bedroom, Louis sucked in a breath before putting himself beneath the writing desk as slyly as he could, right at the same moment that Harry entered the room.

With his back against the board of the desk, Louis could only listen as he heard Harry’s thick black boots hit against the wooden floor, slowly passing him by and toward the bedroom door.

It now hit Louis that when Harry went in there, he’d be expecting to see him when he wasn’t in there.

Just as he thought this, he heard Harry slam the door shut very hard.

“Fucking little bitch.”

He heard the captain curse out in a rather calm, but clearly  _upset_ manner.

Grunting for realizing how dumb he’d been to forget that, Louis tried to recalculate some sort of plan that would allow him to make it out of this unscathed from the rage-driven pirate.

Louis’s back was beginning to grow a bit sore, but he knew he’d rather bear with that than the angry man within the room, so he stay put as he craned his neck down closer to his pent up chest.

When Harry left the room in search for him, Louis would be able to make it out and return to the bedroom… That seemed to be his only way out at the moment.

Harry’s footsteps had paused and Louis inwardly willed the young man to just step out for just enough time for the royal to make a swift run back to the bedroom, but when the pirate began to walk again, it wasn’t in the direction Louis wanted.

Harry was silent now, though his steps seemed to be carried heavier, like he was exerting his anger through his feet while he approached the desk.

His feet and legs stopped right in front of the writing desk and Louis held his breath, fearful that even his heartbeat would be audible to the captain.

Every second that went by seemed to be far too long for Louis as he waited for the male to just pull away and walk out in search for him outside on deck rather than stay there…

Finally, after what felt to be eternity, Louis heard Harry give a chuckle, a low one that appeared to be filled with amusement, an emotion that greatly clashed with the male’s earlier mood. Louis bit his bottom lip in anxiety as he wondered what could have possibly changed the man’s mood before the most heart stopping occurrence happened.

Harry’s pen fell in front of the open space that ultimately separated Louis from Harry’s legs.

“Oops.” The male from above stated out.

Louis felt his eyes grow wide as he stared at the pen that Harry would have to bend to get and then see him, which would eventually end in Louis receiving some sort of harsh punishment similar to that Ryan-man that Harry had left to bake in the Sun all day for a week with no food or water.

With a quick prayer, Louis clenched up as he waited for Harry to catch him, already accepting the fact he’d be caught.

However, Harry never did reach for his fallen writing utensil.

“I am so clumsy.” Harry spoke to himself with another laugh that seemed so  _fake_ that Louis had the biggest feeling that Harry  _knew_ he was there and he was just toying with him.

But that couldn’t be right… There was no way of him knowing…

An answer to his prayers, Harry’s feet began to walk away and Louis could have let out a sigh of a relief though he chose not to as he listened to the pirate’s boots walk in the direction of the single exit to the boat’s open deck.

The door opened and was promptly closed and with that, Louis instantly found his body relaxing beneath the wooden desk as he came to realize he just dodged a bullet.

Grasping his hand on the end of the desk, Louis pulled himself out from under the desk with a heavy breath. Just as he stood up straight to stretch his cramping arms, he found himself growing rigid the moment his eyes met with Harry’s as the pirate captain leaned on the door frame, his arms folded over his chest while he watched Louis with a serious expression on his face.

Louis stopped his stretch slowly and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, what do you know? That wasn’t the kitchen…” He lightly remarked as he averted his gaze from the glaring brunet, “I’ll just be on my way then.” He professionally stated while he dusted off his shoulders.

Harry pushed himself off of the door frame with a hand raised as he walked toward the royal, “Why were you going through my notes?”

“I wasn’t going through your—“

Before he could finish, Harry, on the other side of the desk picked up one of the letters and practically shoved it into Louis’s face,

“Don’t lie when you can get caught red handed, Princess. Your hair still looks pretty damp and the last time I checked, my notes didn’t have these little water marks on them.”

Unable to find a response, Louis twisted up his face after Harry shot him a glower, “You disobeyed me.”

“I was just—“

“I’m speaking.” Harry sternly intervened, “You disobeyed me when I told you to stay in that bedroom.”

Louis once more tried to defend himself, “No, you need to let me explain, I was just—“

His words were once more silenced into a slight gag as the rope end of his collar was suddenly yanked over the desk by Harry who was staring at him even more dangerously, an annoyed look within his green eyes, “Shut up. I don’t give a damn about your explanations. You didn’t listen, and now you’re going to be punished.”

Cursing the collar that had him at his ends, Louis could only grunt in pain as he was pulled roughly around the table before he was before Harry that still glared up at him as though Louis had just murdered the man’s family or something similar.

He tried again to open his mouth to avoid Harry doing something entirely irrational, but before he could he found his eyes growing wide as his trousers were slipped down.

“What are you—“

“Shut the fuck up. You don’t have a right to speak.” Harry snapped out though Louis resisted as the pirate captain aggressively tugged down his underwear, revealing his manhood to Harry that roughly grabbed the shaft, instantly making Louis wince in pain with a low hiss.

Harry watched him, a wicked glint in his eyes, “Under normal circumstances I don’t deliver this punishment to just  _anybody_.” With his emphasis on the last word, his grip on Louis’s penis became lighter and he gave it a slight stroke that instantly left a shiver going up the royal’s spine.

Louis tried to ignore the pleasant sensation that erupted throughout him as Harry’s hands stroked him.

He shouldn’t be getting pleasure from this.

 _Harry_ was touching him when he really shouldn’t be.

This wasn’t right.

This dirty, low-life criminal was molesting him and he should be able to push him away. He had no right.

Even if his more rational piece of mind had this sentiment up, Louis could only try to contain his moan as Harry sped up his pace over Louis’s penis, the friction growing along with the embarrassing erection.

Louis could feel his face heated up as Harry pushed him into the desk, causing it to rock violently. He was beginning to reach his peak of satisfaction that his brain was violently trying to oppose though his own organ was resistant to obey, too pleased with the feeling of Harry’s hand pumping over it.

And just like that, he stopped as a knock was heard on the cabin’s door.

Louis’s heartbeat that had sped up quickly within the past minute slowly came to terms with the lack of hand over the hard penis that now awkwardly hung out of Louis’s anterior.

Gradually, Louis opened his closed eyes to gaze at Harry that appeared rather calm to the entrance, “Yes?” He called out when the knocking ceased.

“Permission to enter, Captain?” The Irish voice on the other side of the door inquired and Louis came to the realization that if the male came in and saw both Harry and Louis in this sort of position, assumptions would be made.

People would know that Louis Tomlinson, the Prince of the United Kingdom just got fondled by a fucking pirate.

This wasn’t real life.

It  _couldn’t_ be.

When he was given the okay, Niall entered, right as Louis finished pulling up his pants and adjusting himself.

The blonde paused in confusion as he looked between the two males, an eyebrow arched as he seemed hesitant to fully enter, a plate filled with food in his hand along with a large cup. “Was I interrupting something?” He innocently questioned.

Harry glanced over at Louis, and the prince never felt more infuriated to see the smirk coming to the captain’s face as he shook his head, “No, not at all.”

Knowing how much he had on the line to keep himself together, Louis gave a growl of annoyance before he shoved Harry backward with as much force as he could muster in his body that was now beginning to reclaim feeling.

Clearly unprepared for the assault, Harry was sent back on his feet about a foot back.

Niall gaped at them as Louis shoved past him and onto the ship’s deck without any care to what Harry had to say to it.

“But I brought him food…” Niall lowly said with a frown as he watched the prince’s back shrink as he stomped farther away.

**Chapter 5.**

He didn’t know where he was going, but anywhere that was away from Harry was good. Hell, jumping off of the ship seemed like a great option at this point.   
  
Louis growled beneath his breath as he heard several cat calls and whistles tossed his way off-handedly from the lowly members of the ship. Just as the others he had encountered, all of them from what he saw at the corners of his eyes were young. His age, maybe a bit older.   
  
He didn’t know much about pirates, but he was pretty sure that the average ship didn’t have a crew entirely of 19 year olds. Especially with a captain that looked like he belonged in school seeing as Harry appeared to be the youngest person onboard from what Louis had seen so far.   
  
It was still hard to align the fact that Harry was Captain Styles.  
  
“Louis?”  
  
Preparing to snap at the disrespectful bastard that spoke his name so loosely, Louis turned around and found himself facing Liam.  
  
The First Mate of the ship smiled faintly at him and Louis was immediately hit with his plan from earlier.   
  
Get Liam on his side.   
  
That meant putting his diplomacy and charismatic skills to the test.   
  
“Hello, Liam.” Louis gave the pirate a smile in return as he regarded the brown haired male in a friendly manner. This had to be the first time Louis smiled since getting on the ship.  
  
Liam appeared a bit confused at first, his eyes squinting at Louis as though something were off, “What are you doing on deck? Did Harry let you out?” His tone was cautious, almost as though he were choosing his words carefully.  
  
“I really don’t like how you say that as though I’m Harry’s pet. I’m out on deck because I want to be, that immature pirate be damned.” Louis scoffed out; he wasn’t at all pleased with that. He couldn’t deal with people assuming he was Harry’s little piece of property.   
  
Liam blinked, clearly not anticipating that sort of reply, “Oh… Well, I’m sorry? Geez, Harry was right. You  _DO_  you have attitude.”  
  
“I don’t have attitude. You pirates don’t have respect.”  
  
“That’s a bold thing to say especially when you’re really just a prisoner on this ship. You know, just because I’m loyal to Harry and I gave him my word that I wouldn’t harm you… Some of the others of the crew have nasty tempers.” Liam informed vaguely with his eyes evaluating the brunet, “If you talk to them like this, you won’t have a tongue to speak later.”  
  
Louis cringed his nose.   
  
Though he wanted to question why Liam gave his word to Harry to not harm him, he chose to keep the topic off of the smirking, overconfident twat.   
  
With a fold to his arms, Louis arched a brow, “Oh? Like who?”  
  
Liam shrugged lightly, “Just the fellows that seem to act before thinking. I’m positive Harry will get them afterwards but if you provoke them, it won’t be pretty.”  
  
Not that that did anything to scare Louis. If some idiot came to him like an asshole, they better prepare themselves to be treated as an idiotic asshole.   
  
However, out of the blue, Louis found himself being reminded of something vastly important to his plans of escape.    
  
“Can you take me to see Eleanor?” He seriously asked while locking eyes with Liam.   
  
Dealing with Liam was quite possibly the easiest feat that Louis was given since setting foot on One Direction. Though the only people he truly dealt with were Liam and Harry, Louis would rather the polite and soft-spoken brunet over the smirking, big-headed captain any day.   
  
Liam had guided him to the room floor of the ship and taken him to the far corners where he said that the higher ups of the crew had their own quarters as the rooms were bigger than the average pirate’s onboard. Not as big as Harry’s obviously, but still better than a normal crew members’.   
  
They stopped to one of the doors near the very end of the hall and to Louis’s surprise, Liam actually knocked on the door instead of walking right in.   
  
He understood that before, the crew members knocked because Harry had been in the rooms they wanted to enter. Showing respect to the captain was important. However, Liam was second-in-command. Harry wasn’t in there so he had every right to just run in. Looked like this pirate had some class.   
  
A muffled ‘Come in’ was heard from inside and Liam gave Louis a nod before pushing the door opened.   
  
The room only had a single bed and a small bedside counter that held a burning oil lamp. On the floor was a bunch of sheets and a pillow.   
  
Sitting on the bed was a female brunette that was clearly a pirate as seen from her attire and Eleanor.   
  
Instantly, Louis found himself brightening up as the two shot at one another with open arms to embrace each other into a tight hug.   
  
She was okay. That was all that mattered.   
  
“Oh my God, Lou! I missed you so much! I was so scared for you, and oh my God!” He could feel her body beginning to tremble while he held her closer, a smile making its way to his face as he did so.   
  
This had to be the first time Louis smiled genuinely since getting on the ship.   
  
His friend was okay and they were together. Everything was suddenly so much brighter.   
  
“As sweet as this reunion is, mind keeping it to a minimum? Your heterosexuality gives me nausea.” The other female sarcastically teased with a smirk on her face.   
  
Louis leered at her as he and Eleanor parted.   
  
Liam tsked her in a scolding manner, “Don’t mind her, Louis. Danielle isn’t use to actually seeing a male and female… ‘Interact’, per say.”   
  
“Unless you count myself with those drunkards at the bars we stop by at the ports,” The woman, Danielle shrugged, “I have my moments with them but women are far more satisfying to be honest. Not to mention, being the only female member on One Direction leaves me open to seeing nothing but homosexuality from the crew no matter where I turn.” She sighed dramatically with a flip to her hair, “With the amount of gay in the air as thick as the salt on this ship, heterosexuality seems unnatural.”  
  
Louis snorted, “Guess my being bisexual is suddenly a good thing for you then.”  
  
Unlike what Louis had expected, Liam and Danielle didn’t appear the least bit surprised by his confession.   
  
Trying not to take offense to it, (he expected there to be more controversy that the Prince of the UK was bisexual… Technically it was a huge disgrace and could have him exiled should his father or the Anglican Church find out) Louis folded his arms over his chest as he evaluated Eleanor’s outfit.   
  
Unable to help himself he frowned, “What are you even wearing right now?” He slowly asked with a sigh.   
  
Eleanor paused, surprised by his tone before she glanced down at her clothes.   
  
Sheepishly, she smiled, “Captain Styles gave it to me…” She trailed off and Louis squinted, “Why? And that’s it? He didn’t touch you inappropriately, did he?” He questioned with suspicion. If he remembered right, Harry had told him back in the prison room that everyone he visited on the ship got the same treatment. He wouldn’t put it past the curly haired captain to do something like that.  
  
Danielle snorted with a giggle and Liam released a chuckle while Eleanor’s eyes grew wide as she shook her head.   
  
“She got them because she’s officially One Direction’s newest Nurse.” Liam answered with a nod while Louis’s expression faltered in complete and total shock.   
  
Eleanor was a part of the crew!? What!?

  
“What!?” He choked out in disbelief, he turned to Eleanor with his face still the same, “Eleanor, you didn’t! You joined the pirates!? What the fuck!? Eleanor you can’t—“  
  
“When she was either faced with execution or the title of nurse, I think she made a smart decision.” Danielle intervened defensively. Her eyes watched at Louis dangerously as though she were ready to pounce simply in the name of defending Eleanor from Louis’s criticism.    
  
Louis shot her a glare, “I wasn’t speaking to you! I don’t give a damn about your thoughts either! You dragged Eleanor into this! Now there’s no turning back for her and under law if she’s caught by any European government, she’ll be executed by them! For fuck’s sake how could you get into this situation, Eleanor!?” He turned back to her desperately, hoping to hear some sort of redemption that she could withdraw her position and she could go back to being normal.   
  
Eleanor winced and took a step back from her fuming friend while Danielle simply stared up at him in annoyance.   
  
Louis didn’t care. This was all so fucked up. Eleanor seriously decided to join the pirate crew. This was some fucked up bullshit. She was a pirate now. A criminal.   
  
He couldn’t believe this.   
  
“Hey, there’s no need to be so angry, mate.” Liam tried to calm with a hand to his shoulder.   
  
Disgusted, Louis brushed him off and turned around to glower at the pirate, “Yes, there is! Eleanor, my friend, an innocent English citizen just went from civilian to criminal all because of you people!”  
  
“Captain Styles would have had Danielle kill me.” Eleanor quietly stated, instantly shutting Louis up.   
  
Slowly, the brunet turned to face his friend who held her head down shamefully,   
  
“Captain Styles to be frank terrifies me, Lou. When he spoke to me in my prison room, I tried so hard not to cry, but it didn’t even work… He told me I was too soft to be sold off and that he’d send someone to just kill me in the room and he would have done it himself, but I wasn’t worth his time…” She let out a shaky sigh, “Danielle had been sent to kill me, but she took pity on me. We talked and she arranged for me to stay alive, and the only way was to join the crew. I’m not a fighter… I never have been.  But I have been studying to be a nurse since I was a baby. So, the job fit.”She brought her head up with a small smile, “At least I’m not killing or hurting. Just helping. You know I’m sorry that you’re mad, but there was no other choice for me. I’m not really a criminal… I’m still Eleanor.”  
  
Louis groaned with a roll to his eyes, “Yeah, you’re helping a bunch of criminals so they can go off and kill more criminals. Way to do the world justice, Eleanor.”  
  
She frowned sadly and Louis instantly felt regret for his off-hand comment. 

“But I understand completely. Don’t worry about Harry either. He said you weren’t worth his time. Hah. What a fucking joke considering how little he’s worth.” Louis scoffed out reassuringly.   
  
At this point, Danielle and Liam’s smiles disappeared.   
  
“He’s a brash cunt that needs to get off of his damn high horse. Prince of the Crimson Sea and Prince of the Seven Seas. Not real titles. Just horribly cliché and cheesy ones that uncreative bums gave him and he swears he’s on top of the world. It’s pathetic. He’s only like, 15.”  
  
Liam smiled awkwardly, “He’s 18…”  
  
Oh. So only a two year gap. But regardless, Harry was still really young, especially to have such an infamous rep.   
  
“He’s only 18 and he has all that credit for being some badass pirate? Are we talking about the same Harry? Because to be frank, the Captain Styles I heard about is nothing like the Harry Styles I’ve become acquainted with.” Louis admitted airily.   
  
Just like earlier, his head couldn’t seem to align both Harry and Captain Styles as the same person.   
  
In his head, back in England when he heard small whispers and news of Captain Styles being a ruthless murderer, he imagined a strong, experienced, cold, and deadly man that took no one’s bullshit. When he met Harry all he saw was a little brat that was given the title of captain and abusing the hell out of it.   
  
Liam frowned, his eyes watching at Louis steadily, “Harry earned his title so quickly because he is the best around. Don’t let how he presents himself in front you fool you. Trust me when I say, Harry is the last person on this ship you want to piss off.”  
  
His words left little effect on Louis as he began cleaning his dirtied nails uncaringly.  
  
Danielle scowled as she watched Louis, irritation clearly seen in her eyes, “I’m surprised you’re acting this way. Captain Styles normally has no tolerance for people who act like you. He should have put you in your place by now.”  
  
Glancing up from his nails with a leer on her, Louis prepared to give the female pirate a verbal beat down, but before he could another voice began from behind him,  
  
“I should have put him in his place? Danielle, please. Are you blind? Look at his fucking neck.”  
  
Immediately, Louis found himself stiffening with a grunt while Eleanor moved her eyes to the ground and Liam and Danielle took their gazes to the open doorway where Harry undeniably stood.   
  
“No matter what the Princess says or does, in the long run the leash of his collar still rightfully falls into the hands of his true owner.” Harry smoothly remarked as he brushed past Liam to paste himself against Louis’s back.   
  
Louis’s stiff position became more alarmed the instant one of Harry’s hand came down to grab his crotch.   
  
Annoyed and a tiny bit flustered, Louis grunted as he tried to push the curly haired captain off passively to avoid a full out scene in the small room. Yet, Harry’s hold was iron strong and it appeared that every effort to take him off only made the captain amused as evident from Harry’s soft chuckles that blew into Louis’s ear.   
  
“Get the fuck off of me.” Louis lowly hissed, struggling to move the stubborn hand that gave a small squeeze, instantaneously causing Louis to flinch.  
  
Catching the flinch, Harry slyly smiled though he allowed his hand to move from the royal’s vital regions, “Why would I do that when I love having your body so close to mine?”  
  
“Go shoot yourself. I’d rather be reborn a village idiot than touch you.”  
  
“Ouch. That stings, Princess.”

  
“Stop fucking calling me Princess! It’s not clever or cute!”  
  
“Then what should I call you? Prince of my bed?”  
  
Louis’s face contorted into that of pure disgust and Harry let out another laugh before turning to Liam, a smile of entertainment still on his lips.   
  
“Course is still set for Ireland; however I finally have my plan for dearest Prince Lou set up.”  
  
Grateful that his name was demeaned nearly as much as it could have and too interested in what Harry had to say, after taking a seat on the bed beside Eleanor, Louis remained attentive.   
  
Liam nodded, “The treasure is still our main goal, correct?”  
  
Harry crossed his arms over his chest, “At the moment, yes. But my plans with the royal,” He turned to look at Louis plainly, “I’ll have the UK monarchy practically at my feet after they realize I have their precious prince. I’ll have the King begging for my mercy when he knows I have his son under my possession.”  
  
In disbelief, Louis shot up to his feet, “What!? But you said you weren’t going to use me for money or revenge!” Gritting his teeth, he briefly caught eyes with Eleanor before he turned back to Harry, “Also, you lied to me about Eleanor! You told me you were going to sell her! Not kill her!”  
  
Liam clearly looked surprised and he cleared his throat, “Whoa, I think it’s about time for me to be at that place that isn’t here. Let’s go Danielle, Eleanor.” He gestured them to the door before hastily walking out.   
  
Danielle quickly followed after him, mumbling her respects to Harry prior to disappearing after Liam, Eleanor right on her heel.   
  
“You can’t possibly be that naïve.” Harry snorted, “My Prince, I am a pirate. I am not one to go around speaking nothing but the truth.” He smiled, however it was a hollow smile that easily signified his lack of emotion on the topic, even so Louis still scowled.   
  
“That rests my case on why I have zero respect for you lot. So far, the only decent pirate on this ship that I know is Liam and according you, since he’s a pirate I shouldn’t even trust him.” Louis bitterly grumbled out, his feet turned away from Harry to move to sit on the bed in aggravation.   
  
Harry hummed, “Liam may seem decent now, but like me, he knows how to be civil at the right time and place.”  
  
“How ironic considering how you openly groped me in front of those three about a minute ago.”  
  
Harry grinned now, “Compared to fucking you over the bed that was civil.”  
  
Revolted at the thought, Louis rolled his eyes, “Not even in your dreams.”  
  
Chuckling, Harry waved him off, “Honestly though, if you know what’s good for you, the main five you better not piss off here are me, Zayn, Niall, Liam, and Danielle, because that bitch can fight like a fucking man.” Harry took a seat beside the brunet that slowly inched away.   
  
Louis nodded, “Never seen or met this Zayn guy, Niall seems like a pretty okay bloke, Liam is great, and Danielle seems like a bit of a bitch but she’s alright.” Those were his intentional thoughts, though he had to say, he was curious to see Zayn now.   
  
Harry moved closer to him in response to his evasive movements, “Zayn is great. Pretty vain at times and he’s a bit of a bad boy but he’s one of the most trusted men on the ship.”  
  
“That’s nice.” Louis distractedly replied, moving away from Harry once more.   
  
Harry was going towards him once more, however this time before Louis could try to put more space between them, Harry had taken hold of the rope leash and gave it a twirl around his wrist, shortening the length and preventing Louis from sitting less than 3 inches away.   
  
He tried not to voice his inner curses as Harry’s body practically plastered onto his,  
  
“But what do you think of me? You gave your thoughts on the others. Remember, it wouldn’t be smart to get me mad.” Harry reminded, his tone was playful and Louis was briefly met with Liam’s words from earlier.   
  
The Harry he saw right now wasn’t the same Harry that Liam normally dealt with or that Eleanor had the terrible luck to face.   
  
He was getting all of Harry’s good side for some reason.   
  
“I don’t like you.”  
  
He was being honest. Not to mention, his curiosity was getting the better of him.   
  
Harry cocked his head to the side slightly, “Is that your way of not getting me mad?”  
  
“Compared to my other thoughts it is.” Louis truthfully said, his eyes glaring at the rope that was tightened and kept him so close to the salt-smelling teen.   
  
“So I’m going to guess you don’t like me because you love me.”  
  
Louis narrowed his eyes, “Okay, first I want you to think about all the shit I’ve been through in the past 12 hours because of you and then repeat that sentence of yours in your head before you understand how fucking dumb that sounded.”  
  
Harry watched him with a mischievous smile and Louis grimaced, “Second, I am a royal and you are a peasant. By default, it doesn’t work out. Sorry, but no.”  
  
Harry smirked as he moved his face closer to the brunet’s ear, “Actually, I am the Prince of the Seven Seas. I am as much royalty as you are. So it could work out~” He winked before Louis moaned, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”  
  
Laughing at the elder boy’s clear discomfort, Harry released his hold on the collar and stood to his feet, finally away from Louis’s personal space bubble. “I am cutting you some slack. You’re free to roam the ship as you please, but should I ever call you, you better run toward me like your life depends on it.” He winked with a crooked grin that made Louis roll his eyes.   
  
Harry began moving to the exit, “Your bedroom will be shared with me. So whenever you get tired, the door is always opened for you.” He informed lightly.   
  
Louis pursed his lips, “So that’s it? I’m a free man?”  
  
“Partially free.” Harry glanced over his shoulder with a smirk, “When I get bored, I’ll be sure to make sure you remember who put that collar on you.”  
  
Louis’s mouth opened, but he couldn’t find any words to reply with, so instead he pulled his eyes away from Harry’s own as the captain disappeared down the hall, and began to contemplate on how exactly he’d adjust to this new, pirate life.

**Chapter 6.**

“Harry’s already told the crew about everything with you! So don’t worry, you’ll see not all of us on board are crazy, homicidal criminals! We’re more like a big and happy family than anything!”

Louis was completely in the right when he took Liam’s words with a grain of salt.

It had only been five days since he’d been plucked off of his own royal ship on his way to France for his studies and onto the ship One Direction, the boat of the most insane and lowly pirates around.

Everything that happened on the boat made him want to do a barrel roll over the edge and fall straight into the raging waters beneath.

Although everyone he spoke to was relatively harmless, aside from mockery, it still made Louis want to punch them in the face as hard as he could. The toothless, scarred young men of the crew had a tendency to wolf whistle both his and Eleanor’s way whenever the two were walking together whether it be up on deck, in the dining hall, or under in the room halls. It was irritating and Louis was always ready to give them snarky look but he could never truly formulate words or physical actions due to Eleanor holding him back.

That was also how Louis actually got to meet Zayn. The ravenette had popped up out of seemingly nowhere, decked one of the young men in the face and then claimed they needed to leave the ‘ladies’ of the ship alone.

Eleanor found amusement and gratitude in the rescue from the fit young man who had introduced himself to both of them rather charmingly after.

Louis did not.

As everyone else, Zayn didn’t look like he belonged on a pirate ship. In fact, he was attractive enough to pass as nobility, not that Louis would have ever told him that especially given the small detail that Zayn had the strange ideology that Louis was having sex with Harry every night.

That strange little rumor appeared to be circulating around the ship a bit too much for Louis’s liking.

At breakfast, Liam would ask if Louis wanted the seat with the cushion before Harry cam for it, Zayn would make the most uncalled for jokes and sexual innuendoes whenever Louis and Harry happened to be in the same area, even Danielle remained as blunt as ever, casually inquiring if Harry was as rough as she thought he’d be in bed.

Louis was glad to say that with the four nights that had by since he found himself onboard One Direction that as far as he knew, Harry was never once in the bed with him.

At night, he went to bed alone, he woke up in the middle of the night alone, and he woke up alone.

If Harry didn’t sleep was debatable, but Louis never bothered to ask because to be frank he didn’t really care.

It was a blessing to not have to share a bed with him.

Though it was a curse because it seemed that during the day, Harry wanted  _everything_ to do with him.

Louis was literally forced to follow him around on the ship practically all day while his collar’s leash was held at the ready and Harry went about his daily Captain duties; checking maintenance, out watching the waters, writing in his study.

He was told that he’d adjust well, and even if five days wasn’t much compared to the apparent lifelong sentence he was going to be submitted into, he knew he’d never adjust.

Louis couldn’t handle a lifetime of this.

He certainly didn’t plan on handling it either.

To be honest, his plan of befriending Liam would have probably gone way smoother and faster if Harry wasn’t constantly dragging him around pointlessly. Louis only had time to talk to the First Mate of the ship in the morning before Harry came for his breakfast and in the evening about an hour or two after dinner when Harry finally decided to let go of his leash.

What a wonderful lifetime he had up ahead.

“You know, I’m really beginning to wonder if ‘partially free’ is even suitable enough to describe myself.” Louis dryly voiced out to Harry as he warily watched the younger man continuously write at his desk. His expression was thoroughly focused as it usually was whenever Louis was within the study with him.

In all honesty, it was a bit weird to think about how for a pirate, Harry was even able to read and write. Most couldn’t even write their names.

Harry didn’t pause his script; his eyes still remained on the paper as he spoke, “Interesting.” His tone was loose and far off, almost as though he weren’t even truly listening.

If Louis didn’t know any better, he’d say he wasn’t. Spending so many hours with Harry in only so many days gave Louis a small perspective of the captain’s little habits.

He was as vigilant as a lion on the prowl even when he didn’t seem to be.

Scowling, Louis folded his arms over his chest, “You can’t say it isn’t true. Ever since I’ve gotten on this damn ship, you’ve been taking me everywhere with you aside from the fucking toilet. I don’t know about you, but that isn’t freedom in the slightest.”

Harry’s fingers briefly halted from their writing, and at this moment Louis found himself staring back at the captain’s green eyes solidly while Harry watched up at him plainly, “I think our definitions of freedom aren’t equivalent.”

“You  _think_?” Louis sarcastically mumbled, his eyes darting toward the door with furrowed eyebrows. “God, I feel like I’m wasting my soul with each moment I’m in here.”

Now, Harry was lifting his head up, his back leaned more comfortably on his chair while he evaluated Louis, which certainly was different considering how he usually didn’t give Louis much mind when he spoke, and instead kept working without much else aside from conversation.

His usual red and gold overcoat that he wore while out on deck was set on the back of his chair, leaving only his white undershirt, which was only buttoned up toward the bottom allowing for his chest to be out and exposed, on along with his usual dark blue pants that were as usual, tucked into his thick brown boots.

Pirating wear appeared like way too much show in Louis’s opinion.

With all the detail put into the captain’s coat, he wondered who the hell the pirates were trying to impress.

The fish for when they were stabbed and chucked overboard?

“I’m assuming you were more productive back in your palace in England?” Harry arched a brow upward in what seemed to be genuine curiosity.

That was certainly a different emotion from the usual jeering that he received from him.

Shrugging, Louis stood more erect, “I guess. I studied a majority of the time and though it may not be productive to you, education is important and better than just standing and watching someone write useless notes and journal entries.”

Harry cringed his nose, clearly not appreciative to Louis’s choice of words, not that the royal cared, “I’m aware of how important education is, thank you very much Your Highness.” He rested his chin on his hand, “Though I suppose out on the ship there are more important things for you to do aside watch me write ‘useless notes’.”

The brunet snorted, “I can bet you that there is. Hell, I could be making friends or something.” His threw out what first came to mind carelessly.

“Making friends? I thought you hated everyone on this ship.” Harry cracked a smile of obvious mirth.

“You should really stop thinking,” Louis tsked, “You might hurt yourself. Not to mention, you keep thinking wrong. I mean, my opinion of  _free_ is not being cooped up with you all day long. Being free gives me the liberty to walk around and do as I please before the sun sets.”

Instantly, Harry cleared his throat, “Well, it must really be unfortunate to be you. You are the captive and I am the captor. The freedom I give you is a privilege, not a right. So I’m sorry to say, but you’re stuck in here until I say others.”

“You’re not sorry.” The Prince immediately retorted with a huff, he was getting agitated that Harry was making this so difficult when it really didn’t need to be.

“No, I’m not actually. I was just trying to be polite, you know? Save face? Tell lies to another’s face with a smile on my lips?” Harry quirked a brow with a rather serious expression pointed Louis’s way, “You should know all about that, considering how you’re royalty. Tell me, Your Highness, how many faces have you lied to with a fake smile on your face just to save your own ass? Or better yet, how many people has your  _father_ lied to?”

Hearing the edge beginning to heat up the brunet’s words, Louis found his own annoyance rising upward. Not afraid he we growled lowly, “You keep my father out of this! He has zero to do with this conversation!”

Harry’s eyes narrowed, “I can bring whoever I want into whatever conversation I want. Your father actually has everything to do with this conversation because I can assure you; if it wasn’t for him I would have killed you by now.”

Each word came out exceptionally smooth and easy and one look into Harry’s eyes told Louis that he wasn’t lying.

Pushing back any feeling of fear from this side of the captain that he never truly seen before, Louis grunted with clenched fists, “That’s odd. Last I checked this conversation was about  _freedom_ not about my life or my father!”

“Okay, first I want you to think about all the shit your precious daddy has put on the lower United Kingdom class and then repeat that sentence of yours in your head before you understand how fucking dumb that sounded.” Harry seethed out coldly, catching Louis instantly in surprise at how similar the sentence sounded.

Oh, irony with that sentence. Harry’s memory was really on point.

But aside from that, Louis could honestly say he was left speechless as Harry kept his murderous glare over him,

In truth, he couldn’t reply because he didn’t understand what his father had to do with his life or freedom.

Just like that, there was a rapid knock on the door and both Harry and Louis found their attention drifting towards it.

“Captain! Rouge ship rapidly approaching!”

Harry was instantly at the alert as he stood to his feet, “Another pirate ship?” He calmly inquired right after his reply was met, “Yes! We should be within distance in five minutes or less!”

“We’re that fucking close and they decide to tell me  _now_? Idiots…” Harry groaned out in annoyance as he reached to grab his coat from his chair.

While he began fixing over his back and speed walking toward the door, he gave Louis a simple look, “Your freedom. That’s all you fucking care about. You’re as selfish as practically all the upper class on those fucking islands. You only care about yourself and the second you get a simple taste of what you’ve been dishing out to millions for generations, you cry about it. It’s fucking pathetic. Don’t even think about leaving the room. I’m sending someone in to watch you.”

“What—“

_Slam._

“Is that even supposed to mean!?” Louis shouted in frustration as the door was slammed.

Groaning into his hands he moved toward the wall before he gave his forehead a repeated tap on it.

Outside the door, he could hear the frantic stomps and exclamations from the crew as the rouge ship apparently moved in closer.

Christ, Harry was impossibly annoying.

What the hell did his dad have to do with any of this? Being selfish?

It made no sense whatsoever.

Though it sounded similar to the case of hatred toward the Crown. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Harry did considering the fact he was pirate captain. Louis didn’t care.

He was still alive and he was going to be living for a while.

A while long enough to get off the ship and get back to London.

Harry was just showing himself to be more and more of a cunt as time went on, which was expected.

“You alright there, mate?”

Louis halted from his head banging to turn to the now opened door.

The blonde Irishman, that Louis was able to recollect in his memories as Niall shyly smiled as he stuck his head into the room.

Over the course of the five days, this boy in particular was seemingly nowhere to be seen. Louis couldn’t really remember catching him at breakfast or dinner or anywhere whenever he was walking around with Harry…

Though before, on his first day on the ship, his memory of the Irish lad was still clear.

Louis slowly nodded as he pulled away from the wall, a scowl on his face while Niall closed the door behind him.

“As alright as I can be when I’m being held captive.” He replied with a sigh.

Niall laughed lowly, “Liam and Zayn told me you weren’t adjusted yet.”

“Be honest, if you were in my position wouldn’t you be the same?”

Cracking a grin, he put his hands into his pockets with a shake to his head, and with such an expression on his face he looked vastly innocent. His features appeared younger than Louis assumed they were and the royal found that sense of déjà vu coming over him once more as he squinted at the young man.

He really seemed familiar.

“Have I seen you somewhere before?” He automatically asked, easily putting Niall’s smile to an end as he sheepishly glanced away with a cough into his hand, “You’re a prince. I’m a pirate. I doubt you have.”

Realizing how stupid he just made himself sound, Louis gave a short awkward smile, “My mistake.”

“Haha, it’s okay! I’m Niall by the way!” He gave a slight bow,

Louis watched the gesture in mild amusement, partly due to the fact that as opposed to the sloppy-jeering bows and curtsies he’d seen since his arrival onboard, Niall’s bow was actually spot on. Clapping once, the brunet nodded, “Louis Tomlinson.”

The blonde laughed, “Pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.”

“I’m sure it is.” Louis scoffed causing Niall to smile broadly, “I’ve never got to properly meet you before you know, but I heard a lot about you! Like according to Harry you’re like a cat! All mean and stand-offish but you’re actually super cute and cuddly when you go to sleep! Oh man, speaking of cats have you ever eaten a cat before? I remember a couple months ago I accidently ate one because Zayn lied and said it was chicken. It tasted kind of like chicken but when he told me the truth I freaked out, because cats aren’t meant to be eaten, not like chicken. I love chicken so much. Don’t you? Does Royalty even eat chicken? If you don’t that must be a sad life, like whoa!”

Louis could only stand in astonishment as his ears were bombarded with a wave of words as the loud Irishman continued on with his words obliviously. 

**Chapter 7.**

“You talk an awful lot, you know that right?” Louis held a hand up as Niall finally came to a pause with his words,

He literally had been rambling for what seemed to be the past five minutes or so. How could a human being just stand there and talk on and on without a stop? As far as Louis had been able to keep up, a majority of the boy’s words was about food.

The Irishman blinked his eyes in confusion as the brunet groaned with a shake to his head, “When I say, a lot, I mean  _a lot_.”

Niall frowned now; a sad and puppy dog-like expression dulling on his features that immediately made Louis feel slight regret in his words.

“Oh… Sorry… I didn’t really realize. Ah shit, I must be annoying you.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a sullen look on his face while he glanced away shamefully in a way that made Louis grunt after running a hand through his hair,

“You aren’t,” He quickly stated, not entirely sure why he was showing this boy kindness because if anything, he should be completely content with making a pirate sad, “It’s just I had no idea that someone could say so much in such a short period of time is all.” Louis half-lied with a forced smile on his face.

This answer made the happiness that had been in Niall’s eyes reappear like a sparked match. The blonde returned the beam obliviously, “Ahaha! Well, I guess I do talk a lot! I’m sorry still! I’ll try to control myself more?” He questioningly inquired mostly to himself with an arched brow.

Louis nodded with a thumbs up sarcastically, “Sounds like a plan.”

Without another word, Louis turned away to begin walking toward the door out of the cabin, already deeming the conversation over. However, he didn’t expect for Niall to speak up in surprise at his impending exit.

Unlike what he expected, Niall didn’t grab his shoulder, something Louis was completely grateful for—had he been touched, he would have snapped without a doubt— but instead fell into step beside him with furrowed eyebrows, “Wait, where are you going?”

Pausing, Louis gave him a short look, “Outside, on deck.”

Harry was gone for once so now it’d be a perfect opportunity to leave.

Niall’s eyes grew wide as he frantically shook his head, his body rushing in front of the door with his hands outstretched, “Whoa, um, no, you aren’t!” The younger male stated out firmly while he kept his eyes on Louis steadily.

Slightly annoyed, Louis stared back, “What are you doing? I’m just going to the toilet.”

“You’ll have to hold it because I’m listening to orders and making sure you stay within my sight until the rouge ship has passed.” Niall’s lips pursed a bit and Louis groaned, “I’m not a child. I don’t need to be watched.”

“Well, yeah. It’d be kind of awkward if you were child that tall.” He rocked his head from side to side on his shoulders, “Though I’m still not moving.”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Louis bit his bottom lip with a fold to his arms, “Okay, tell me then. What’s the worst that can happen if I walk out before we pass the rouge ship, hm?”

The blonde’s face contorted into that of thought and the brunet watched him dully.

“Since Harry is more than likely negotiating with the captain of the other ship into letting both the ships pass one another without conflict because you’re onboard and we can’t afford to lose you, if you go out there and anyone from that rouge ship sees you and recognizes you, they might attack us to get a hold of you!” Niall come up with reasonably,

Louis arched a brow, “Really now? Oh, and here I was thinking that Harry was the ‘big and tough’ Captain Styles! So much for that if his title isn’t enough to scare the other, pettier beggars away.” He had to roll his eyes at the irony.

Clearly not sitting right with his words, Niall frowned, “Harry  _is_ tough!”

Not impressed, Louis sized him, “I doubt it if other people are still willing to try and attack him if they supposedly know what he’s capable of.”

“You’re a prince… A captive prince, but still a prince so you’re worth a lot to us sea dogs. Anyone would fight with their life to get their hands on you considering how much your existence would add up to in gold and silver.”

Even if he had a point, Louis still shrugged his shoulders uncaringly before turning on his heel toward Harry’s bedroom, “Fine. I guess I’ll just go sit on the bed for a few…” His eyes slyly watched from the corner as Niall pushed himself off of the exit to catch up to him obliviously,

“Harry’s bedroom! I’ve never been in there yet! I bet he has a bunch of crazy shit in there!”

Without warning, Louis rotated back around and made a beeline straight for the exit before Niall had any time to react properly. His hand was at the doorknob and he was pulling it open swiftly as he ran straight out onto the boat’s deck with no heed to Niall’s shout that was behind him.

Triumphant that he just managed to outsmart a pirate, Louis couldn’t keep the smirk from growing on his face as he kept his jog toward the farther end of the ship that had the staircase that would lead him down to the lavatory.

But, his pride was short-lived.

“ _Louis_?” He heard his name called in disbelief, instantly stopping his advance forward.

Louis turned over his shoulder to view where his name had been called, and he found his eyebrows grooving downward the moment his eyes stopped on Zayn as he stood at firm attention alongside Liam, their postures similar to that of the royal guards back at London that Louis had been accustomed to seeing whenever he was outside the palace. The two pirates were at the boat’s docked area where a short bridge was extended out between One Direction and a second, slightly smaller ship from what Louis was able to see.

Uncertain of what to do, Louis nodded, his eyes taking in the sight of the second ship silently while he began to approach the two boys that seemed to be growing incredibly anxious as they made stiff and frantic hand gestures, their eyes moving in between him and the side.

Confused, Louis narrowed his eyes, “What’s both of your problems? Niall told me that Harry would be negotiating with the other pirate captain so I’m guessing this is their ship?” He pointed his hand behind the two that were growing more and more uneasy.

Liam groaned lowly, “Louis, get back inside of Harry’s cabin  _right now_.”

“Why?”

“For fuck’s sake, how did Niall even let you out!?” Zayn whispered-shouted, his expression completely perplexed and frustrated, “But it doesn’t matter now! Just go back inside!”

Louis grimaced, “I just came out to use the toilet. For Christ’s sake, I’m not pointing a gun at anyone.” He held his hands up in defense with a look of exaggeration to the floor.

“ _Please_ don’t choose this time of all times to be a diva. Louis, if you value your life, I suggest you haul ass back with Niall into Harry’s cabin.”

“I—“

“Do it  _now_  if you value your life and  _ours_.” Liam spoke through gritted teeth, “Harry’s going to kill us if they see you.”

“No! No! I refuse to die!” Zayn intervened, his eyes glared over at Louis in impatience, “Go back to the God damn room, Louis before you get—”

“IT IS PRINCE LOUIS!”

“TELL THE CAPTAIN AT ONCE!”

“ALERT THE CAPTAIN THAT ONE DIRECTION HAS A HOLD OF PRINCE LOUIS!”

“Spotted… Fuck.” Zayn moaned into his hands.

Louis found his eyes widening at the calls of his name as he glanced over at the second ship where dozens of pirates were at the edge of the ship watching over at him with matching looks of excitement and wonder. Their eyes were all glued on him, seemingly twitching with an emotion that brought a rather disturbed feeling into the royal’s stomach.

Slowly, he took a step back and in response, it appeared as though the pirates from the other ship were moving toward the bridge that connected both of their ships together.

Zayn and Liam were both in front of him in a single instant; the two had both their pistols drawn upward and at the wooden bridge threateningly.

“Just so you cunts know, if you try stepping a one foot on the bridge, we’re blowing your brains out.” Zayn loudly informed while waving his pistol in the air for a clear view, “God, Harold is going to have such a bitchfit later.” He mumbled out lowly,

Liam sighed, “He will… But we’re defending his boyfriend now so he shouldn’t be too upset.” His finger pulled the trigger on his pistol the moment he saw one of the older men on the other pirate ship begin walking toward the bridge with his own gun raised. The man was sent plummeting off the edge of the ship, straight into the open water space below.

“We will kill you if you try crossing the bridge!” Liam declared once more when the pirate’s companions all began to draw their own weapons and point them at both Liam and Zayn menacingly.

“Not to be rude or anything, but you two  _do_ realize that there are about ten guns pointed at us right now ready to shoot, right? Or am I the only one seeing this?” Louis slowly questioned, his head slowly moving in between the two conversing males.

“Doesn’t this feel familiar, Liam?” Zayn turned to his brunet comrade with a smile, ignoring Louis’s question.

Liam shook his head fondly, “Haha, it does. Only Niall wasn’t as sarcastic. Also, Louis,” He addressed the stressing royal simply, “Yeah, we see the weapons, but we’re not going to worry too much about them.” He answered with a smile.

Not feeling the least bit safe, especially with the looks the pirates from the opposing side were giving him, Louis blanched, “I think now would be a good time for me to go back to Harry’s cabin…”

Zayn and Liam turned toward one another before briefly locking eyes. They appeared to have some sort of silent communication going on before both nodded at each other and turned back to Louis,

“Don’t look back and when you get inside lock the door.” Liam said seriously,

“And  _run,_ runlike Harry is promising you a free blowjob for the night.” Zayn prepped, his tone serious though his words made Louis sneer at him, “Prat.”

Liam chuckled, “Okay, seriously though. Go, Louis.”

Taking a breath, Louis took a single step backward, his eyes watching once more as the pirates of the other crew seemed to grow tenser at his movements. He gave Zayn and Liam one last fleeting look before he turned around on his heel and took off running back to the cabin room as quickly as his legs could carry him.

Behind him, he could hear the sound of shouts, his name, and guns firing off while he pushed himself to the door that was now upon him.

Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of the doorknob prior to moving inside of the room with a heavy pant into his lungs. After locking the door, Louis moaned tiredly as his bad slid on the doorframe at the back of him.

Niall sat at Harry’s desk and seeing Louis enter the room once more, he perked up in amazement, “What happened!?” He rushed over to the fallen brunet,

Louis huffed, “Oh, nothing… Just saw a huge spider in the boy’s room.”

The Irishman winced as he listened to the chaos beginning to unravel outside the room. Louis could hear his name being called along with gunshots and the cries of agony from dying men. As unsettling as it was, he couldn’t tear his mind away from the fact his life was currently on the edge of a tightrope.

“How huge was the spider?” Niall humored him dully.

“Huge enough to kill me.”

“Sounds pretty huge.”

“Yeah. Can we just push something in front of this door to make sure they don’t get in since they may or may not have seen me run in here?” Louis inquired as he began standing to his feet, “Also, thanks for not saying ‘I told you so’.”

Niall shook his head, “We can try moving Harry’s desk there. But don’t worry. I won’t say that unless we end up being kidnapped.”

Taking brief notice of how the blonde said ‘we’ in the sentence, Louis couldn’t help but couple it in with the fact that Niall hadn’t left the room when he had gone out.

With a suspicious look on his face as he grabbed one end of Harry’s desk to move to the door, Louis watched Niall, “What exactly do you—“

A loud  _bang_ echoed throughout the room as the door visibly rocked inward, immediately causing both Niall and Louis to halt their progress of desk-moving. The two young men watched the door silently before another  _bang_ was heard and the door moved once more.

This time, Louis winced right as the exit was hit once more, this time more sharply and the wooden doorframe was sent crashing to the floor.

Cursing inwardly, Louis took an instinctive step back as an entirely unfamiliar face entered the room, pistol raised up with an offensive finger on the trigger.

A man, perhaps in his late 20s glanced around the room securely, his eyes evaluated over the area twice before he fully set his sights on both Niall and Louis.

Louis instantly glanced over at Niall for some hope of seeing the pirate pull out a weapon as Liam or Zayn had earlier to defend the two of them. However, to Louis’s complete and total horror, the blonde stood calmly with no gun or sword up.

Why did he have a feeling this wouldn’t end well?

**Chapter 8.**

 “So this is where Captain Style keeps his  _real_ treasure?” The man laughed lowly, his gun not lowering.

“No, not really. He keeps it in the treasury room but since you seem a bit daft, I could point you in the direction of it if you want. I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to find it on your own.” Louis countered, and even though he knew he was facing a life-or-death situation, he really couldn’t help himself. At least if he was going down, he could go down a trooper.

Before the older pirate could retort with what could be assumed to be an angry response, as evident from the scowl that came to his mouth after Louis’s reply, Niall spoke up, “I doubt we could even be considered treasures, really.”

Pursing his lips a bit, Louis curiously watched Niall while the younger boy tapped his fingers on the wooden desk casually, “I think stuff like jewels and gold would be considered treasure. Those sorts of things are shiny. Shiny things tend to sell for a lot. I mean, not all shiny things are valuable obviously, but gold and diamonds are both all shimmery and it’s pretty cool in a way—“

_Bang_

The gun went off with a speedy bullet to the ground and Louis flinched as the man by the doorway sneered in Niall’s direction angrily, “I don’t appreciate your yapping, boy.”

Niall twisted up his face in a manner that appeared more annoyed than anything and Louis found himself questioning how the hell Niall was really chattering on and on in the face of danger. Then again, he was a pirate…But what pirate didn’t carry any weapons!?

“I’m not yapping. But you know what yaps? Dogs. Not the big ones though, they either bark or just stay and sleep all day. But the little ones yap alot. They’re feisty and annoying at times but I guess they’re cute if they like you. Which naturally makes sense, because why would they yap if they like you? Unless that’s their way of saying they love you, which still doesn’t make much sense because most dogs lick you if they like you, right? I think that’s how it is anyways.”

Louis watched Niall with nothing short but astonishment beneath his passive straight face.

The boy was staring the pirate right in the eyes, a small smile on his lips as he continued talking nonstop…

“Which reminds me, are you the captain of The Rose?” Niall asked simply.

Grunting now, the older male didn’t lower his gun, his eyes narrowing in slits as he took a single step forward, “No, I’m not. Though I don’t see how that should matter. Now, I’ve had enough of your foolishness. Hands behind your backs and walk forward, both of you.” He stressed with his dark eyes briefly fleeting to Louis as a reminder that he wasn’t forgotten.

Frowning, the royal stood his ground, unwilling to walk forward. Luckily enough, Niall had the same line of thought as he remained in his spot.

The blond put a hand to his chin, “If you’re not the captain, then I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that within the next minute, the only person who’ll be alive from your ship is your captain.”

“Enough!” With the gun raised toward the low ceiling, the rouge pirate leered over Niall’s form angrily, “I swear I’ll shoot you in the face if you say another word. Now, hands behind your backs and walk over here right now. From this moment you’re not One Direction’s. You belong to The Rose.”

This time, unlike what Louis hoped, Niall held his hands upward a peaceful way before he began dragging his feet ahead ever so slowly. Scowling, Louis moved to fall in step beside him with his head lowered,

“Niall, what are you planning?” Louis whispered over to him with furrowed eyes, “Are you trying to make this man kill us?”

Niall’s eyes flashed over to his quickly and the Irishman winked with a short smile before rising up his head, “So we belong to The Rose?” He stopped his steps and in response, Louis stopped his as well. They were about four feet away from the madman with a pistol aimed at them.

Before the man could respond, Niall lowered his hands, “I don’t think so because it’s impossible to belong to something that doesn’t exist.”

 _Bang_.

A gunshot went off so unexpectedly that Louis winced with his eyes shut. He prepared himself to hear Niall release a cry of pain after being undeniably shot, however when he both heard and felt a body collapsing to the floor with a low moan, he slowly opened one of his eyes.

The sight of the old pirate’s body on the wooden floorboards, face first was the first thing he brain managed to register. In his back, a small hole was present that was edged with dark red that seemed to slowly expand on the already dirtied cloth.

His eyes remained glued to the man on the ground that was now undeniably dead in horror.

It happened so fast.

“Haha! I think I may be psychic! I planned that so accurately! Woah, thanks for the save, Captain!”

With Niall’s words, Louis glanced upward from the dead body upward to the broken door way where Harry stood, his hand moving to his side to put his gun away. The brunet’s face looked like the very essence of all that was fury in the world; however, Louis couldn’t pay it much mind as he glanced back down at the man who was just killed in front of him.

Harry just killed him.

“What happened to the rest of them, though? You killed them all too…?” Niall’s excited tone slowly died as the blonde watched the captain’s dark expression flash over to him.

The frosty look that Harry wore told Niall that he had to shut up and fast, something the Irishman instantly did with a shameful stare to the ground.

“Alright! So they are okay! I told you Niall would be able to handle everything Harry!” Liam exclaimed from the doorway, his eyes bright despite the fresh blood that was coated on his face along with a single gash over his cheek.

Niall sent the brunet a silent look to warn him of Harry’s mood, but before it could reach him, Harry turned over his shoulder to give Liam a glower, “Niall wasn’t able to handle shit.” His words were harsh and Liam’s mouth dropped instantly. Harry growled with a hand through his hair, “I’m so fucking pissed off right now.”

Frowning, Liam nodded, “That’s understandable… But you know Zayn and I are sorry that we weren’t able to stop Louis from being seen outside… If we were, this wouldn’t have happened. But everything’s okay now and that’s what matters, right?”

With a small and shy smile, Niall agreed, “Yeah… I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have let Louis out of the room. On the plus side, I’m sure you guys managed to snag some stuff from The Rose’s ship right? Did they at least have good food?”

“Liam, Niall get out.”

“Harry—“

“Get out  _now_.”

Liam grimaced and Niall quickly mumbled out a quick good-bye to Louis and apology to Harry before he stepped past Harry and beside Liam,

Harry didn’t turn around to face them as he spoke, his eyes leveled on Louis who was still in a daze while he kept his blue eyes on the dead pirate’s body, “Get someone to fix this door by tonight.”

“Alright, mate.” Liam answered while giving Harry a concerned look that mirrored Niall’s toward Louis. The two turned around and began walking out on deck which was now beginning to be cleared of fallen, dead bodies by the lower members of the crew.

When they were out of earshot, both Liam and Niall locked eyes with one another their steps not stopping.

Niall spoke first, “Harry isn’t going to kill Louis, is he? I mean… I know all of this is his fault, but Harry likes him, doesn’t he?” The Irish pirate scowled lightly. He quite liked Louis and he seemed like a fun person even if he was kind of bitchy.

Honestly, Liam shrugged his shoulders, “Harry told me he’s fond of Louis. But even if he says that, you have to remember that he said he was fond me and after I pissed him off for the first time I was tied to the ship’s mast for a whole day.” Sighing, he reached over to wipe off a smudge from the blonde’s cheek, though he only succeeded in smearing more blood and dirt from his own finger onto the boy’s pale skin.

Obliviously, Niall blinked, “So Louis’s basically fucked?”

“One way or another. Harry seems pretty pissed.”

-

Louis still couldn’t over the fact that he pretty much just witnessed someone die in front of him. Not only that, the person who just killed was now dragging him into his bedroom.

“Let me go!” Louis exclaimed as his collar was yanked mercilessly into the bedroom door. Harry ignored him, his stride ahead was strong and each step seemed to make an extra loud noise as his boot came in contact with the ground.

Harry pushed him onto the bed and Louis instantly rebounded as he glared up at the curly haired brunet, “You’re such a twat, you know that right!?”

“I’m the twat!?” Harry snarled as he stood at the edge of the bed, his green eyes ablaze, “You little hypocrite. I felt bad for doing this before, but you need to be punished now.”

Surprised at the male’s calmer way of talking, Louis prepared to get off of the bed, “Punished? I don’t know who you think you are but—“

Harry’s hand was at his chest firmly and when Louis opened his mouth to tell Harry to not touch him his words were lost when Harry’s lips roughly smashed into his.

An electric-like sensation instantly rippled down the royal’s spine as Harry’s mouth continued to work at his. Though it took a couple seconds, the moment Louis realized what was going on, he immediately tried to push the younger male off of him, though it’s in vain as his mouth is forcibly opened by Harry and the taste of salt enters his maw.

Harry pulls away for a brief moment and his green eyes lustfully glare down into Louis’s, “I’m the Prince of the fucking Seven Seas and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut your mouth. You look prettier that way.”

“You bastard—mmhm!” Harry’s lips were back, and this time Louis felt a sharp slice of pain on his bottom lip right after Harry’s teeth offensively bit onto it amid the kiss.

Now coming to the understanding that all forms of resistance against Harry’s assault was futile, Louis stopped his efforts right after Harry began pushing him onto his back on the bed. The pirate captain appeared to notice this as well and it almost felt like he smiled a bit into the kiss.

Harry pulled away after a few more seconds and stared down at Louis, his eyes still coated with anger, but it appeared nearly dulled into annoyance, “Are you a virgin?” He hoarsely questioned, an eyebrow arched upward.

“W-what!? Why the fuck would you need to know that!? Get off of me!” Louis coughed out as he attempted to rise up; however, Harry was now practically on top of him, straddling him.

The captain’s hand slid under Louis’s chin, forcing him to stare up into Harry’s harsh green eyes that “If you don’t answer, I won’t prep you and I’ll fuck you so hard my dick will come out of your nose.” His words were serious and Louis found a bit of the color in his face washing out.

In disbelief he coughed, “You aren’t serious.”

“I’m very serious.” Harry snapped as he began to shrug off his over coat before he started pulling down Louis’s own trousers to the brunet’s mortification, “I’ll be honest with you, Louis. I like you. You’re very attractive for a royal, I have to say. I thought a majority of royalty were fat and simply disgusting. You proved me otherwise. But, even with your pretty face, you talk too fucking much.” He truthfully informed as only Louis’s pants remained.

When Harry’s frown nearly twitched into a smirk, Louis growled as he tried kicking up one of his legs to prevent himself from being touched, “I don’t talk too much! You’re just pissed that someone’s finally standing up to you!” He grunted out, “Now, if you’d please, give me back my trousers and get off of me—“

“Don’t act like you don’t want me to fuck you.” Harry mocked with a scowl, “Also, stop trying to stall, now if you want this to be quick and less painful on your part, I suggest you shut your mouth, take off your pants and get on your hands and knees.”

Challengingly, Louis glared up at him, “If I don’t?”

Harry leered back down at the royal, “Then I suppose I’ll just put my dick in you as roughly as possible.”

Not expecting that kind of response, Louis gave a groan, “Can’t you just—“ Before he could even finish, Harry was already working on tearing off his pants.

With his manhood out in the open and Harry’s irises scanning it over, the curly haired male snorted and Louis instantly found himself growing annoyed with how arrogant the male seemed, already knowing what that meant.

Inserting both his index and middle finger into his mouth, Harry watched down at him as he took his now wet fingers out and lowered them down toward Louis’s arse. The prince winced in pain the instant he felt the two digits enter him.

Harry being the bastard that he was wasn’t the least bit gentle as he stretched Louis’s hole out.

“F-fucker.” Louis managed to breathe out as he glares up at the male that doesn’t seem at all apologetic.

“Ten members of my crew were killed today.” Harry informed as he roughly twiddled his fingers from within Louis, he boredly watched down at the squirming royal, “Not only that, but at least a dozen others are wounded right now.”

He removed his fingers and the relief Louis felt was instant. Harry now began to undo his belt buckle as he rose off of Louis a bit,

Once more, he tried getting up, but with the sensation his arse felt, even he knew he wouldn’t have gotten far when Harry pushed him back down into the mattress.

With his pants lowered and his hardened cock out, Louis found slight panic entering him as he watched Harry begin to straddle him once more.

Harry’s hand slid beneath his chin once more and Louis was forced to watch into the young man’s eyes.

Harry contemptuously stared at him, “Tell me, whose fucking fault is it?”

“I—Arghhh.” Louis groaned out the instant he felt Harry enter him. Despite the short prep from before, the pain is still intense and the brunet clutches the bed sheets beneath him desperately.

He gives a single thrust and the pain rockets throughout his body, clouding his thoughts as he throws his head back and gasps helplessly.

“I asked you a question, whose fault is it?” Harry questioned again, his hand moved downward to Louis’s hip where he began to soothingly rub, making a pleasuring sensation for the royal, though the pain still felt in his arse was all that he really focused on.

Louis stared up at the ceiling blankly, “Harry… Get out, right now.” He weakly commanded, his voice nearly quivered into a moan but he was unwilling to become a complete victim. He willed himself to stay strong. Show Harry he wasn’t going to be dominated so easily. This was all so unexpected and if he had warning, he would have stopped it.

Harry clicked his tongue, “Answer me first. Whose fault is it that I’m currently missing so many of my men?” Harry pulled himself out before mercilessly thrusting back in, easily earning a sharp and quick gasp from Louis.

“What does it matter!?” Louis growled up at him, “You fucking won the battle anyways! You’re still alive, unfortunately! There’s no need for you to be… Urgh… Doing this!” He protested angrily.

At this point, despite the pain, Louis can’t lie that he’s feeling pleasure from this, especially with the way Harry’s hands had began trailing themselves over his body. Harry’s hand is suddenly at his cock and Louis can’t help but shudder as the pirate begins to stroke his manhood in a similar way as he’d done before on Louis’s first day on the ship.

With his eyes shut, Louis tried to resist the dirty tactics Harry was using to undoubtedly get him into a pathetic, begging mess, but it was hard with so many emotions and thoughts penetrating his mind.

Appearing to notice Louis’s struggle, Harry licked his lips, a smile fighting its way to his face as he watched down at Louis, “You’re stubborn and feisty. I like that about you.” At that moment, he started to rock his hips from within and all though it wasn’t as painful as before, the feeling wasn’t all too enjoyable.

“I may have to stop it since I don’t want you liking me, you sadistic bastard.” Louis moaned out as he felt Harry’s hand pick up speed over his cock.

“What did I tell you before?” Harry grunted before he rocked himself back into the brunet that hissed in pain instantly, “You look your best when you don’t talk.” His grip on Louis’s manhood tightened rather painfully, and Louis winced into the mattress, his lips pulled into his mouth to prevent himself from speaking.

With each rock and thrust combined with the simultaneous handjob, Louis’s feelings are off the wall as he finds himself moaning in pleasure from Harry’s skillful yet crude methods. How he’s able to multitask so is a mystery, yet Louis can’t deny that it’s bringing him closer and closer to a climax.

Then, all at once, Harry stops.

Confused at the lack of rhythm occurring within him, Louis opened his eyes to view the curly haired pirate captain as he fully pulls himself out of the antsy royal.

Unable to truly find words to say at the empty and unsatisfied feelings he held, Louis gaped at the pirate who bent downward at the side of the bed to pick up his fallen over coat after pulling up his pants.

“What are you staring at?” Harry dully inquired with an arched brow, “I’m done.”

What?

“What?” Louis choked out,

He was on the peak of a climax and Harry was  _done_? He couldn’t just stop like that! If anything, he himself hadn’t even reached his end yet! He couldn’t be done!

“I’m punishing you, not giving you pleasure. Instead of letting you finish off and be content, I’m letting you stay the whole night without satisfaction. Enjoy it, love.” Harry cruelly laughed as he fitted his coat over his back with a swift wink the royal’s way, “I can’t wait to do this again some time. Hopefully we’ll be able to go all the way if you behave yourself.”

Still not fully registering the situation, Louis grunted as he attempted to sit up, his body still weak, “You dirty little bastard!”

He just got cheated out of sex.

How does that even happen!?

Harry released a snort, “I wonder if you’ll still be calling me that after the world finds out that the Prince of the United Kingdom was just fucked into a mattress by a ‘lowly’ pirate.”

Instantly, Louis’s anger was flushed into that of embarrassment as the true degree of the situation at hand settled into his mind.

“Shit.” Louis cursed into his hands the moment Harry exited the room.

What the hell did he just do!?

**Chapter 9.**

Louis didn’t know when he fell asleep, but it happened so suddenly and when he woke up his comprehension of time was so incredibly disoriented that he admittedly grew slightly panicked.

Losing track of time was not an option especially considering how little resources he had to depend on while on the ship.

He tried to push his thoughts of Harry out of mind as he slowly got up from the bed. A sharp pain in his backside was an instant reminder of what happened between him and Harry earlier. That little encounter that shouldn’t have happened.

It really shouldn’t have.

And the more Louis thought about it, the angrier with himself he got because at this point, he wasn’t sure if he was upset for all the right reasons.

Was he angry that Harry literally went out of his way to fuck him or was he mad that the curly haired pirate hadn’t finished the job?

He willed himself to believe it was the first one, but somewhere in the back of his head he could hear a small voice telling him otherwise. Louis dubbed the small voice as only his teenage sex drive speaking. Harry certainly wasn’t unattractive, quite the opposite actually… It was just his personality… And overall existence that was plain shit.

Louis tried to push that thought away.

It was in the past. If he went back to England and word got out that the Prince had sex with a pirate and _enjoyed_ it, things wouldn’t be pretty for him.

His walk toward the door was in a strange limp as he tried to coop with the pain that came with each step he took forward, his arse throbbing at his stride. Once he was at the door, Louis leaned against it to be sure that Harry wasn’t in his study, and when he was positive he didn’t hear anything on the other side Louis opened the door.

As suspected, no one was within the study.

The once broken door from the pirate from earlier was fixed as good as new to Louis’s surprise,

A relapsing memory hit him as he moved his eyes to the ground where the dead body had once been. A single bloodstain was the only remainder of the now deceased pirate.

Even though Louis knew he shouldn’t feel bad, he couldn’t deny the tiny piece of human compassion in him that nagged him on how quickly and ruthlessly Harry had just shot the unsuspecting man in the back to end his life. Although, Louis supposed he should note, killing him  _did_ save both him and Niall.

Louis continued his way over to the door that ultimately would take him to the deck of the ship, and when his hand touched the knob, he weighed his options of going or staying and thinking of the outcomes.

Realizing he had nothing to lose because, what the hell he was already on a thin line of life or death, he swung the door opened and stepped out.

It was night time so apparently time clearly had went ahead much further in his ‘nap’ and he found himself growing distressed.

How long was he out?

Several oil lamps were set up on large wooden posts on the ship, and Louis silently watched several of the ship’s crew members walk to and fro carrying several items on their being to the lower parts of the ship. Cautiously, he peaked out from the room to view where they were all coming from with the random stuff.

The Rose still docked next to One Direction. The same bridge that Liam and Zayn had stood at attention guarding was still up, and from that point, Louis saw the pirates of the ship actively going on and off between the boats, carrying off valuables that ranged from paintings to provisions from The Rose and onto One Direction.

Knowing it was impossible for this to be going on for over a day; Louis was able to rationalize that it was still the same day. They were just stealing from the other ship…

His lips contorted into a scowl while he clutched his arse, the pain still fresh and bothersome.

He wondered if Eleanor had something that could possibly help dull the pain. Because God forbid he ask someone like Zayn…

Louis would  _never_ hear the end of it.

“Oh, hey Louis, nice to see you’re still alive and well.”

Nearly jumping at the unexpected voice that seemed so close to his ear, Louis snapped his attention over to his left where he saw Zayn leaning against the wall near the opened door.

The dark haired male wore a sly smirk on his lips, “When Harry left the room earlier he seemed to be in such a better mood than before, we all placed bets on how he killed you, especially when you didn’t come out after an hour.”

Louis resisted the urge to knock the amused smile from the pirate’s face with a heavy breath, “Whatever, I don’t care. Where’s Eleanor?” He quickly questioned,

“I’m doing fine, thanks for asking.” Zayn dryly remarked with his hands in his pockets,

Rolling his eyes, Louis made an emphasis with his hands, “Where’s Eleanor? There is something I need to discuss with her right now.”

Arching one of his brows quizzically, Zayn watched the royal, “About what?”

“Oh my God, can’t you just tell me where the hell she is instead of being so nosy?” Louis groaned out in annoyance, instantly causing Zayn to hold up his hands in defense, “I am so sorry, Your Royal Highness. Forgive me for not giving into your whims in a single instant.”

“That’s not cute. Just answer my question.”

“She’s in the medic room doing her job.” The pirate answer with a shake to his head, “You know, because after you recklessly came out on deck and unleashed a sudden attack from The Rose a number of the crew got wounded so as the new Nurse, she’s helping out.”

Louis cringed, Zayn’s words getting to him a bit more bitterly than he would have liked, however he brushed it off, hoping to keep all traces of offense from his tone, “Alright, can you show me the medic room?”

“I don’t think I want to.” Zayn coughed into his hand and when Louis gave him a confused look, he glanced away, “Heard from one of the other crew members that Danielle’s in there helping Eleanor out and since it was so crowded and Eleanor was getting stressed, Danielle went on a rampage to get everyone out.”

Sighing, Louis looked up to the sky, “She never did work well under pressure.”

Zayn nodded, “Danielle’s like her personal body guard though. The second she thinks someone is getting Eleanor upset, the girl gets ready to  _pounce_. Apparently, the other day Danielle thought Niall and I were staring at Eleanor’s breasts or something and she went off the fucking wall.”

Louis resisted the urge to release a snicker as the tanned male went on, “Naturally, I had to pick up Niall and run like hell, but the fear of that crazy woman getting her hands on me,” He shuddered dramatically, “Too much to think about, mate.”

Shaking his head, Louis watched the playfully distressed pirate run a hand through his hair, “Also, I don’t know how helpful this advice may be to you, but just don’t ever tell Danielle she can’t dance.  I remember when Alfred told her she couldn’t dance…”

“Who’s Alfred?” Louis asked curiously, not too familiar with the name.

“Exactly.”

With a snort, the royal cocked his head toward the side, “I’m not afraid of Danielle or anyone on this ship for that matter. Just take me to the medic room.”

Shrugging, Zayn shook his head, “Your funeral, not mine.”

The two shared a short and quick laugh as Zayn began to lead the way down the further end of the ship. Using as much strength as he could, Louis attempted to keep a limp out of his walk, inwardly praying that all the men passing by were too warped in stealing stuff from The Rose to notice if Louis was walking in a strange manner.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Louis watched over at the slightly smaller ship that was docked so incredibly close to the one he was on, “Zayn, what exactly are you all doing with the other ship?” He found himself asking lowly.

Zayn paused his steps, giving Louis a short look before turning his eyes to The Rose, “Marauding it.” He answered simply, “They attacked us, they lost, and so we take everything. It’s typical in the pirate world. Certainly isn’t the first time it’s happened to us and more than likely won’t be the last if these ignorant pirate captains seriously think they can take us on.” He explained briefly,

“Oh… But what happened to the crew? The Captain? Were they all…?” He trailed off, unable to really say the word.

“All were killed.” Zayn easily responded, not taking any sensitivity to Louis’s reluctance on the topic, “Well, I don’t know about the Captain. Knowing how violent Harry was when he found out they were trying to take you, the Captain’s probably still alive with his legs broken so he can’t escape the ship. After we finish taking everything valuable from the boat, we sink the ship so the captain will drown. But I don’t know, I didn’t ask Harry and I don’t plan on it.”

Louis’s head accepted this newfound piece of information wistfully.

Harry was fucking cruel.

Not only would the captain have to live through the pain of both of his legs being broken for several hours, but it’d all end with his lungs being filled with burning salt water.

It wasn’t even the man’s fault! It was his crew that acted without orders after they saw Louis out on deck. So Harry was torturing the poor captain for nothing.

Now, Louis found himself inwardly slapping himself.

He shouldn’t care.

The pirate captain was a criminal who was getting what he deserved… But all the same, no one really deserved to die like that…

The male hummed, “That my dear, is another reason we here on One Direction appreciate the fact that Harry unconditionally loves us with his stone, black heart.” He cracked a smile,

“Are you even sure he has a heart?” As he said this, Louis found his eyes growing wide as he spotted from amid the black shadows of The Rose, Harry.

From only so far away, the curly haired male appeared incredibly serious. The burning lights from the oil lamps on the second ship left deep orange light and dark brisk shadows on the captain’s face as he walked onboard past several members of his own crew.

He stopped in front of one of the men that appeared rather curious about something. Of course, being so far away, Louis couldn’t hear anything, but judging from the faces of the two pirates it was rather deep as Harry’s eyebrows furrowed downward and the way he spoke with an emotionless expression, his eyes serious, the royal found himself a bit surprised by the way the pirate was presenting himself off.

Looking at him now, Louis could say that he saw a pirate captain. Not the annoying little shit that was constantly dragging him around, but a mature and serious man of the sea.

The conversation continued from the other man’s response as he appeared slightly worried before he clearly gave a laugh. Louis’s eyes snapped back to Harry to see the male’s reaction, and the brunet cracked a small smile prior to patting his crew member on the back and walking ahead toward the end of the ship where the bridge was.

Louis’s blue eyes trailed over the male’s movements and the moment that Harry turned his head to overlook One Direction, he found his heart stopping when Harry’s eyes seemingly flashed over him. The pirate captain’s mouth opened with furrowed brows as he pointed over at Louis,

Not taking any time to stay and see his reaction, Louis snapped his attention back to Zayn,

“So, since your boyfriend just spotted us, I’m guessing you want to run to the medic room now.” Zayn instantly replied,

Louis had no clue if he should be embarrassed about being caught watching Harry by Zayn of all people, but he let it fall into the back of his mind while he nodded his head and offered Zayn a thankful smile, “Yeah,”

Instantly, the two males took off toward the direction of the door that led to the rooms down below.

Once inside, Zayn expertly slid past all the crew members that were carrying several large stolen articles from The Rose.

Unable to fully keep up with the pirate’s slick evasive movements, Louis found himself crashing into just about every male on his way down the stairs and down the hall, he was barely able to see Zayn racing ahead,

“Don’t touch me; I’m worth more than you!” Louis huffed out as he found himself being caught in the arms of a pirate when he swung around the hall’s corner after Zayn. Surprised, the pirate dropped his arms before the brunet was off after the tanned male who was moving faster than Louis thought he could go.

Zayn stopped to a room near the end of the hall, and Louis slowed his steps while panting heavily, “Next time warn me when you pickpocketer on me and run like you’re avoiding the police.”

“Haha, you’re like Niall. He didn’t know how to run like that until I taught him, but don’t worry, you’ll either learn from practice or osmosis.”

Louis huffed tiredly, “Speaking of Niall, I remember you guys telling me he has a nasty temper. I found it rather strange that when we were in Harry’s study cornered by a pirate from The Rose that he didn’t have any weapons on him… Is that how he always is?”

The dark haired pirate arched a brow as though urging Louis to elaborate, but before he could respond, the door to the medic room opened.

Danielle watched from the entrance with an annoyed eyebrow cocked upward while she glared at Zayn, “Why are you back again, Zayn?”

Zayn immediately straightened himself up to return the leer, “Why can you never seem to mind your own business nowadays, Danielle?”

Scowling, the female sized him, “You’re in the hallway making noise and Eleanor can’t concentrate. So I think it  _is_ my business especially when it concerns the health of one of my crew members.”

“Hey, step off of him.” Louis defended hotly, walking in between the glaring pair. He glowered at Danielle challengingly, “He’s back because he brought me here and it isn’t your God damn business if he wants to be back again. You aren’t the hall monitor. We can make as much noise as we want in the hallway. And if Eleanor can’t concentrate she needs to learn that it’s okay to not save the lives of a couple of pirates, in fact, it’s socially acceptable.”

Zayn slowly nodded with a stiff stare off to the side while Danielle appeared surprised at the royal’s on beat reply.

Louis held up a hand, “Excuse me.” He walked around the curly haired brunette that stood at the door way to enter the medic room confidently.

Once inside, he watched Eleanor offer him a coy smile as she finished wrapping a bandage around Liam’s arm.

The First Mate of the ship nodded as he watched Louis, “Yeah, its okay to not save the lives of a couple of pirates… Because it’d be completely fine if Eleanor failed and ended up killing me.”

Entering the room once more, Danielle scoffed, “Don’t be so dramatic. You only had two moderate injuries. Everything else was nothing you couldn’t handle, which is impressive considering how you were literally up against five pirates at once.”

Liam sighed, “I know, but it’ll be impressive if I can actually make it out without any ‘moderate’ injuries like Zayn or Harry.” He acknowledged over to the darker haired male by the doorway.

The royal within the room folded his arms over his chest, “Not to be rude or anything, but I’ll need all of you to get out now while I speak to Eleanor about official business.”

“Ohhh. Official business. Considering how both of you are captives on a ship, that sounds very serious.” Danielle laughed out lightly, earning a glare from Louis.

Clearly surprised, Eleanor watched the brunet in confusion as Liam stood to his feet in wonder, “Official business? That certainly sounds official.”

“Sounds like something Niall would say so he could sneak extra food from the chef. Hah.” The curly haired female chuckled as Liam began to usher her out with a simple respectful nod Louis’s way. With the three pirates out of the room, Louis moved his attention back to Eleanor after he quickly went to lock the door.

He moved his ear to the door to be 100 percent sure that they were gone from the hallway, and the moment he was, he turned back to Eleanor who was beginning to organize the cabinet of bandages and ointments.

Expectantly, she turned to him, “Do you have an update on the plan?” She curiously asked.

Louis had already told her of the escape plan and he promised whenever he knew more or something changed, he’d inform her. The two were set on escaping the ship and getting back to England no matter the cost.

Shaking his head, Louis’s attention now wandered to his backside that was still throbbing, and his run from earlier did nothing to make the pain go away.

Awkwardly, he breathed out, “Do you have anything to help cope with pain?”

“Hm?” She blinked obliviously.

Louis tried to mask his shame, “Painkillers… Do you have any?”

“Uhm, I think I might…” She turned back to the cabinet, “Why? I heard about what happened with you and the pirates… Captain Styles… He didn’t hurt you, did he?” She quietly asked.

How the hell should he answer that?

“Well, let’s just say Harry is a major pain in the ass.”

**Chapter 10.**

That night, Louis had slept within Danielle and Eleanor’s room.  At first, Danielle and Louis both had an argument over who should sleep on the floor, but after Eleanor volunteered to take herself to the floor as she and Danielle normally shared the bed, Danielle hesitantly gave in to sleep on the ground along with her. Louis came out victorious and he found himself able to sleep much more at ease seeing as he was with the girls of the ship.

In the morning, he completely skipped breakfast. He remained in Eleanor and Danielle’s room and when the two females came back from eating they informed him that Harry had asked where he was. Eleanor had been sure to get Danielle to not say anything but even so, the curly haired pirate irritably notified Louis that Harry more than likely had a suspicion that Louis was hiding out with them, and if he found out the truth he’d be incredibly pissed off.

Louis wasn’t avoiding Harry or anything. But he preferred that the captain didn’t know where he was.

Eleanor tried to keep the hot-tempered female’s mood down, but even she couldn’t completely pacify Danielle. Louis didn’t care to be honest.

For a majority of the afternoon he and Eleanor just spent time talking about their thoughts of home. With Danielle clearly not happy with having to share Eleanor with someone—or perhaps she just didn’t like Louis? He doubted it because normally she was only irritated with his attitude, and he always toned his attitude down when he was around Eleanor— the brunette had left.

Louis could say he truly missed his home.

His comfy bed, his clean clothes, his top of the line food, his sisters, his mother and father… Everything.

Eleanor seemed just the same, though she admitted she was growing a bit adjusted to her new life, however the moment their chance for liberation came, she’d gladly take a grab at it… Even if it meant leaving behind Danielle behind because apparently the two girls were closer than Harry was to his ego.

When it came close to dinner time Louis once again stayed within the room. Eleanor offered to stay back with him, but he declined because Harry would surely know where he was at that point—not that Louis was avoiding him—

After dinner, Eleanor came back along with Zayn who somehow managed to scare the information out of her.

That made Louis a bit nervous because if Zayn could get her to speak, Harry could get her to say everything about anything if he looked at her.

Zayn found complete and total mirth in the fact Louis was avoiding Harry.

Louis wasn’t avoiding Harry.

The prince resented him and the pirate told him that Harry was still looking for him and he appeared more annoyed at this point than he did at breakfast. Once again, Louis didn’t care.

It wasn’t his problem. It wasn’t like he was hungry or anything.

Danielle expressed her opposition on having Louis sleep in her room because if Harry found out she was storing him, he’d toss her off of the boat and even Zayn was reluctant to appease him, but he gave in after much pleading by Eleanor and Louis and a threat from Danielle.

In Zayn’s room, Liam and Niall had been there playing a drinking game and when they saw Louis they were a bit surprised.

After Louis explained he wasn’t avoiding Harry, Niall was casual with everything and insisted Louis join in the game whereas Liam was a guilt-ridden mess.

To give the royal some privacy, Zayn offered to sleep with both Liam and Niall for the night.

Making sure he locked the door just in case Harry was doing any late-night checks, Louis slept pretty soundlessly that night.

In the morning he skipped breakfast yet again and moved back to spend his entire day with Eleanor before night came around once more and he found himself at Zayn’s door. Zayn seemed even more hesitant but Niall then offered out Liam’s own room for Louis, claiming he and Liam would sleep with Zayn and Liam—interestingly enough, Niall didn’t have a definite room, instead he always moved between Liam and Zayn’s rooms as he pleased—

Louis didn’t complain. The next day, he found his cycle repeating. However, this time Niall and Zayn managed to smuggle some food for him from breakfast while he was in Eleanor and Danielle’s room. That night, he slept in Liam’s room once more and he was getting a bit content with how everything was going. No Harry for the past 48 hours.

Not that Louis was avoiding him.

He expected his day to go on as it usually did. He spoke to Eleanor after breakfast, but this time Danielle surprisingly wasn’t there for once. When night rolled in and Danielle returned talking about letting Eleanor wear one of her clothes for the gathering on deck, Louis knew he had to go. He went to Liam’s room for bed, however, he had been greeted with Zayn, Liam, and Niall all standing in front of the door.

The three heavily insisted that Louis needed to stop avoiding Harry because the captain was in a horribly irrational upset mood and they had a feeling that the lack-of-Louis was the cause of Harry’s annoyance.

It was absurd in more ways than one.

First of all, Louis was not avoiding Harry.

Second, why would Harry be upset because Louis was  _not_ avoiding?

Zayn claimed it had something to do with lack-of-sex over lack-of-Louis. Niall agreed.

Louis always knew the two of them were prats.

When he told them he didn’t care because it wasn’t his problem if Harry was being himself more so than usual, Liam pretty much told Niall and Zayn to grab him which led to Louis being promptly carried up from beneath the arms to up on deck.

“You can’t keep avoiding Harry forever, mate.” Liam sighed with a shake to his head as they approached the stairs upward.

Louis kicked his legs furiously, however it did little to stop both Zayn and Niall who had their grips on him iron tight. “For the last time, I am  _not_ avoiding Harry!” The words came out his mouth easily and for the first time ever, with the prospect of him seeing Harry again, what he thought to be the truth for so long suddenly sounded a little like a lie.

Only a little.

“If you’re not avoiding him, how come you haven’t left down there for the past few days? You don’t even come to breakfast or dinner!” Niall exclaimed, each step up that they took was slowly making Louis grow more panicked inwardly and less resistant physically.

Louis bit his tongue, “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Well, I suppose it’s fair for us to be able to assume what we please then.” Zayn attempted to shrug his shoulders as he and Niall pushed him through the door.

The brunet tried to find his footing with a stumble, and when he was balanced he glared over his shoulder at the three sea criminals that didn’t seem the least bit apologetic from their rough handling.

Turning back around him to out on deck, it was night time as expected, and Louis was a bit surprised to see a fire burning tamely toward the center of the large, opened area of the ship. Around the fire, several of the crew members sat on crates and the floor with beer, all of them laughing and speaking nonchalantly.

He grimaced right before he heard his name called happily,

“Lou!”

His eyes rested over to the far end of the circle gathering of pirates where he saw Eleanor’s face smiling at him joyfully while she waved him over. Danielle nodded her head with a similar expression on her face as she beckoned Liam, Niall, and Zayn toward the two of them.

A bit reluctant, Louis prepared to turn back and make a break for it downstairs, but Zayn and Liam were at his sides, stiffly guiding him over toward both girls.

“You’re really not letting me go back down, are you?” Louis dryly asked.

“Nope.” “No.”

When they got around, Eleanor smiled sweetly while patting a seat to her other side for Louis to sit. The royal sighed and complied as Liam, Zayn, and Niall sat together on Danielle’s other side. The brunette gleefully pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, “I’m happy you’re finally up getting fresh air!”

With a sarcastic smile to his face he nodded, “Yeah. Nothing is fresher than dry, salt water. Freshest air around, am I right?”

Giggling, Eleanor shook her head as Louis heaved a breath, “So what exactly is all of this?” He pointed at the fire questioningly.

“This, Your Highness,” Niall called over, “Is One Direction’s mock-campfire.”

“Mock-campfire?” Louis squinted in confusion.

Liam nodded while leaning over to watch the prince, “Yeah, it’s nothing too special or anything. We just set up a fire so the crew can get around and talk freely. It keeps us from going insane from being at sea for so long without much other contact since we’re supposed to be landing at Ireland within the next couple days.”

Zayn shrugged his shoulders, his eyes looking across the crackling fire, “It’s also a great way for most of the crew members to get some sexual tension cleared up.” His head gestured over to a pair of males who were furiously making out on the other side of the fire.

Not impressed, Louis rolled his eyes and set his gaze upward to the sky, which was void of any stars considering the vast amount of clouds above.

He couldn’t help but groan with a hand to his face, “And this is why you wanted me out here?”

“No, we actually you wanted out here so you and Harry could bone but—Ow! Liam!” Danielle whined after the First Mate of the ship warning gave her a shove.

Liam gave her a warning look and Danielle pouted, though she remained silent.

“Interesting how the only people onboard you ever seem to listen to are Eleanor, Harry, and Liam.” Louis acknowledged wistfully. Danielle stuck her tongue out, “It’s only because Harry is my boss, Eleanor is too perfect to not listen to, and Liam is like my older brother.”

“The resemblance is uncanny.” Zayn sardonically piped, earning a glare from both Liam and Danielle.

Eleanor laughed while picking her legs up close to her chest on the crate. She looked over at the four pirates curiously, “You know, I’m actually super interested… How long have you all known each other?”

Against the better of him, Louis actually cocked his attention toward them, awaiting their responses.

Liam scratched his cheek, “I’ve known all of them for quite a while, I knew Danielle first and Niall last.”

“Oh! How’d you meet them? Was it like when you were already a pirate? How did you even become a pirate? How’d you meet Harry?”

Louis couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at Eleanor’s excessive questioning, especially when it apparently put Liam at a bit of a pause as he blinked awkwardly, his eyes moving across the three sea dogs that all shrugged their shoulders, urging him to go on however he wanted.

The First Mate of One Direction let out a breath, “Long story short, I was disowned by my family when I came out as being gay… My Dad didn’t want to give me his land and property if I was just going to ruin the family’s reputation with my sexual orientation so I was out on the streets from when I was about 14 or so?” He unsurely racked his brain before shaking his head, “I kind of got myself into a little job of stealing to survive. A typical thief. I took what I could to get along… Food, money, clothes… I believe I was like, 15 when I first met Danielle.” He pointed at her with a smile that she nodded at.

“It was a spur of the moment thing really, I kind of helped her out of a rather… Messy situation…”

He trailed off and Danielle rolled her eyes with a scoff, “I was nearly raped and Liam saved me by kicking the guy’s ass. It wasn’t ‘messy’ it was fucking crazy.”

Nodding at her crude way of saying it, Liam glanced off into the fire, “Yeah, that was the first time we met. But I didn’t exactly stay back to exchange names. But one day, let’s just say my thief-ways got me mixed up with the wrong people and Harry saved my arse from dying. Now, here I am.” He held his arms out.

Eleanor gaped, “Whoa! So you almost died but Harry saved your life!?”

“Yup. He’s always been a great guy, even back then when he didn’t even know me.” Liam fondly remarked, making Louis click his tongue in disagreement, though he went ignored as Eleanor clasped her hands together excitedly, “How did it happen? Can you say? I want to know!”

“You are so mature, El.” Louis mocked causing his friend to playfully swat him, “I’m sorry! I just want to know! I thought Harry was a scary guy, but hearing how he saved Liam’s life sounds interesting!”

Zayn snorted, “Harry  _is_ a scary guy.”

“He just isn’t scary 24/7.” Niall laughed, “He’s amazing if you had to ask me! He’s saved more than a few lives since he’s been around at the oceans!”

Eleanor’s eyes lit up and Louis rolled his eyes once more.

His action wasn’t ignored as evident when Liam tsked him lowly, “Don’t be like that, Louis. Harry isn’t that bad.”

“So saving a couple lives instantly makes up for the hundreds that he took?” Louis arched a challenging brow the brunet’s way.

At Liam’s defense, Zayn shrugged, “Are you really one to talk when the royal family has so much more blood on their hands?”

Surprised at this, Louis was up at attention and staring over at where the dark haired pirate casually sat.

Louis kept his gaze on him intently as he replied to the male’s words, “I’d advise you to  _not_ talk about my family like you know about us, you peasant. You wouldn’t understand a single thing about politics so I suggest you shut up about things you don’t know.”

Niall leaned his head on Liam’s shoulder, his blue eyes watching Louis innocently, “Isn’t that hypocritical for you to say, Louis?”

Louis silently sat as Niall yawned, “I mean, technically since your family killed Harry’s, his blood is on your hands? You don’t understand a single thing about Harry but you judge him so harshly.”

A moment of stillness went over the group of six while Louis attempted to register Niall’s words.

His family killed Harry’s? Why couldn’t he remember that? Who was Harry’s family? Louis was pretty sure they weren’t pirates… Or were they?

“The royal family… We didn’t… We didn’t kill Harry’s family.” He tried to state, his eyes narrowed.

Liam and Danielle both didn’t appear to want to stray into the waters of this topic and Zayn put a hand to Niall’s shoulders warningly, but the blonde persisted.

“Don’t act like you even know. The clergy, the nobility, and the royals don’t know a single thing besides their wealth and the latest gossip floating from who was caught wearing the same wig twice.” Niall shook his head, his face moving closer Liam’s neck, “Harry wasn’t born into piracy, you know. He was just a little boy from a small village in western England with a normal typical low class English family… He grew up with dreams like all little boys, I guess you can say.”

“He had an older sister and mum that he loved a lot. He wanted to grow up and get a job that would somehow support them, get them to be better off than 98% of the country. Become like the nobles that always had too much to eat and too many clothes to wear. However, there was one tiny thing about Harry that kind of hurt his chances for that…” Niall trailed off.

Louis waited for the Irishman to keep going, but the one continuing the tale now was Liam surprisingly and the brunet was staring into the fire stiffly, “Harry was a Roman Catholic. And as we all know, being a Roman Catholic in the United Kingdom,”

“Is illegal.” Eleanor whispered out with down casted eyes.

Liam nodded at her, “So being Roman Catholic in Protestant England, the day that the last Catholic Tomlinson ruler left the throne…Well, the Catholic’s weren’t treated nicely, I’m sure you know Louis.”

He knew, but it was blurry. When his uncle had died and his father ascended to the throne, Louis had only been 11 years old. If he was right, all the Roman Catholics were stripped of a majority of their rights and treated like 3rd rate citizens. It was bad, but he can’t really remember it because at the time, he had been a child with no real clue or care to what happened outside the palace walls.

But if that were the case, Harry being Catholic wasn’t exactly treated fairly.

He licked his lips with a nod, suddenly feeling a bit guilty.

Harry had only been a young nine year old, completely bloodless and innocent and he’d been discriminated against, as if it wasn’t bad enough that he was already poor.

“So what happened after that?” Eleanor asked when it appeared the story was over.

Zayn now leaned forward, “If you weren’t too caught up in that fancy castle of yours, you’d know that when His Majesty came to the throne, he promised equality to all religions in the UK. But, all that glitters isn’t gold. The Catholic Massacre that happened kind of ended up taking Harry’s mom and sister from him when he was only 10.”

The prince didn’t say a word as he felt Eleanor’s eyes flash over to him helplessly; instead he kept his gaze on the orange tinted wooden floorboards.

He didn’t know what to say to this. He didn’t even know what to feel.

“Harry calls the period between that and his entry into the pirate world his Blank Years. He says he doesn’t remember much aside from rain since he had no home and was always traveling around outside. But soon enough, he got himself a spot on the old ship Lionheart, and he went up in ranks as he grew older, and soon enough he had enough money to start his own ship and suddenly he’s the Prince of the Seven Seas. He visited practically every continent, made a name for himself, and got his name passed at least  _once_ to all the royals in Europe.” Zayn finished up quickly, “In my opinion, Harry’s pretty strong to be able to go from rags to riches in less than six years.”

As Eleanor began to excitedly give her input to the tale, Louis kept his words and thoughts within his head.

It was strange to think about…

His family was the reason Harry’s family was dead.

His father was the cause of Harry’s ascent into piracy.

If his father hadn’t sparked the Catholic Massacre where so many innocent Roman Catholics had been killed, Harry would still be living with his mother and sister.

If his father had kept his promise of equality for all religions, Harry wouldn’t be a pirate.

If his father had kept his promise, Louis wouldn’t be on this ship.

Suddenly, Louis felt some pain in his stomach.

It was his family’s fault that Harry’s hands were soaked in blood.

Even if Louis loathed Harry for keeping him captive, in the end, the true cause wasn’t even Harry. It was his family.

He found his heart clenching up at the thought of a small Harry being so lost and confused after his only guardians were murdered and it was all the royals’ fault.

Harry’s nasty attitude was completely understandable… He was stripped of the only two people he loved so early and forced to grow up fast to survive. Harry acted the way he did to stay alive and as much as Louis resented it, if Harry was any other way, he would have died like his mother and sister a long time ago.

“Lou, you alright?” Eleanor’s hand was at his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Louis ran a hand through his hair with a slow nod, “Um, yeah… I guess… Just thinking about Harry and—“

“About me? Princess, I’m flattered.”

The prince winced and inwardly slapped himself as he gradually glanced over his shoulder where his eyes came upon Harry standing, his curly hair giving a flip as the captain craned his neck to watch at Louis more intently with a small smirk, “Really, I am. Go on.”

**Chapter 11.**

Harry keeps his eyes on Louis steadily.

He doesn’t dare look away because if he does, Louis may disappear.

How long had it been since he last saw the royal? The amount of time was surely countable in days and yet…

It felt like an eternity to Harry.

The first night, after he finished tying the captain of The Rose to the wheel of the ship before they sank it, Harry remembered seeing the brunet on deck with Zayn. He had actually been caught off guard because with how rough he had fucked Louis earlier in the afternoon, the prince shouldn’t have been able to walk at all. -though it was nice to know Louis was durable for future reference. Harry would just have to fuck him harder so he can’t even think straight for the next day the next time they shag-

His biggest mistake had probably been not interfering because when he saw Zayn, Liam, and Danielle appear on deck once more they all said Louis was with Eleanor.

Harry took it as one of Louis’s little talks with the girl. He expected Louis to be back in his room that night.

He had been wrong.

Louis didn’t come anywhere near his quarters that night and Harry tried to not let it get to him.

He’d just be sure that after breakfast he’d pull Louis back into his room and remind him of a couple of things.

Louis hadn’t been at breakfast either that day. He tried to stay calm in the face of his crew, however, his irritation couldn’t help but peak out at times.

When he asked of Louis’s whereabouts suddenly everyone was ignorant.

Harry tried to keep his temper as low as possible because at least one person in that room was a fucking a liar and he swore if he found out who was keeping him from Louis, he’d go crazy.

For that reason, he couldn’t help but stare at Eleanor during the remainder of breakfast. The shy brunette was clearly flustered by his gaze and Danielle tried her best to play it off.

Louis was hiding in their room, Harry was pretty sure. Although Danielle knew better than to try and take something Harry would kill for, Eleanor was still new and naïve.

She had not the slightest clue that Harry would slit her throat if she kept him away from Louis too long in this little game.

Throughout the day, Harry pushed Louis into the back of his mind as he worked on disposing of the remainder of prisoners from The Rose. Liam expressed surprise in this because normally, Harry never occupied himself with killing all the prisoners.

Liam clearly didn’t see Harry’s frustration.

When he went to dinner and he saw Louis still wasn’t there, he found a bit of dark humor in the situation.

Because he was really going to starve himself in favor of avoiding Harry? How cute.

Once again, Harry questioned where Louis was, this time he was sterner with his words. He kept his eyes on Eleanor as he spoke in order to see her break down, but Danielle formed a barrier between them and kept eye contact with Harry instead, her eyes calm and understanding.

This time when he received no answer yet again, Harry left dinner early and debated on going to Danielle’s room for Louis himself, but he stopped himself from that because the longer Louis kept them apart now, the more frustration Harry would be able to turn into sexual aggression later.

Louis wasn’t even in hiding. Harry knew he was somewhere on the ship. Just running away from him.

But it didn’t matter because eventually, like all things Harry wanted since he became the Prince of the Seven Seas, Louis would be in his grasp sooner or later.

For everyone else’s sake, they had better hope sooner.

The next day the little game continued and even if Harry was trying to be patient, his mood was reflecting off of his actions throughout the day. He felt like a bloody child.

Niall and Danielle at one point tried cheering him up by dancing some weird dance but it only succeeded in making Harry shoot his pistol near their feet for them to just stop.

Seeing as they were soon going to reach their port at Ireland, Liam asked if they could have their mock-campfire that night. Unable to help himself, Harry said it’d be allowed but he’d end up shooting everyone who sat around the fire if Louis wasn’t there.

He meant it as a joke.

But seeing as though Louis was here now, Harry would probably have to have a little chat with Liam about why it’s bad to lie to your captain.

Louis scowled deeply as he watched back at Harry, his facial features contrasted rather nicely with the orange tint of the flames ahead and the dark shadows around. Unlike usual, Harry couldn’t see the royal’s cheeks flush pink like they normally did when Harry flirted with him. Harry loved seeing the face on him.

“I thought I told you to stop calling me Princess.” Louis grumbled out before he turned back around to face to the fire.

Harry was a bit surprised that Louis had denied actually having him on his mind…

That was different.

“Hey, Harry.” Liam greeted as Danielle, Eleanor and Niall waved and Zayn nodded his way.

The fact that Eleanor had a small, shy smile on her lips and she was actually able to look him in the eye was also different.

What was this? Eleanor wasn’t scared of him anymore and Louis gave up his feisty attitude?

“Good night, everyone.” Harry smoothly said as he pushed a hand between Eleanor and Louis on the crate. He gave Eleanor a kind smile, “Would you mind moving over a bit?”

“O-oh! Sure! Sorry!” Eleanor softly remarked as she slid closer to Danielle.

Louis narrowed his eyes over at her as Harry took a seat right beside him. Before Louis could say anything, Harry was glancing at the rest of his crew to his left, “So what have you all been doing?”

Niall grinned, “Just telling His Highness and El about Liam and Danielle’s back stories. We were just in the middle of telling Danielle’s.”

Harry nodded his head, “Did you get to the part where I saved her from being killed?”

"No, we were at the part where I was calling you self-centered." Zayn rolled his eyes, instantly making Harry laugh, “Irony.”

Liam snorted with a shake to his head, “More like hypocrisy.”

“Or hungry.”

Everyone turned to stare at Niall blankly while the blonde shrugged his shoulders with his hands up in defense, “What? I’m hungry!”

“You’re always hungry.” Danielle, Zayn, Liam, Harry, and Louis all stated in perfect unison and the instant they all realized this strange occurrence, Zayn, Liam, and Danielle all began to laugh madly where as Niall pouted heavily at being the source of their teasing.

Harry turned to look at Louis now; the royal seemed to be keeping his amusement on the perfectly conducted saying to himself, which Harry knew was natural considering how Harry just cut him off from everyone one else in the little group.

Harry leaned back on his hands as Louis appeared to realize now that he was being watched. He blinked before glaring at Harry, “What’s your problem?”

Giving him an unclear smile, Harry replied, “It’s a crime to stare?” Slowly, he began to slide his hand toward Louis’s leg. Beneath him, he felt Louis visibly stiffen at the unexpected contact, though he said nothing about it.

Seeing this as an open invitation, the curly haired captain started to slowly stroke at the royal’s thigh.

“It’s not a crime, but even if it was it wouldn’t matter to you since you’re a criminal anyways.” He could hear Louis mumbling beneath his breath as he turned away before he more noticeably said, “No, I suppose it’s not, but it’s making me uncomfortable, so can you stop?”

Already knowing he meant both the staring and the leg stroking, Harry chuckled lowly, “I don’t know… Can I?” His hand trailed downward into Louis’s crotch, but before he could make a grab, Louis’s legs snapped completely shut.

Louis gave him a cheeky smile, “There, now I think you can.” He tried to squirm a bit backward from where Harry was seated and Harry retracted his hand.

They could make this a game if Louis wanted to.

“So, mind informing me where you’ve been these past few nights?” Harry allowed his voice to appear as charismatic as possible.

If Louis wanted to play, they could play.

Louis paused for a moment, his eyes watching Harry in at first what appeared to be alarm before it quickly masked over with indifference while he gave a shrug to his shoulders. He moved his gaze to the fire, “Oh, you know… Around…” He certainly wasn’t ready for that question and it made Harry absolutely amused.

Harry rested his elbow on his leg and put his chin onto his hand with an arched brow, “Around whom? Surely it can’t be any of my crew members because when I asked them if they knew where you were, all of them said they didn’t have a clue.”

Now, at his left side he could tell the others were now listening intently to their conversation. Of course, at least one of them that knew of Louis’s presence from the beginning was probably shitting themselves if Louis happened to rat them out.

Louis was silent. His face grimaced and he cleared his throat, “I…”

“You?” Harry flowed along, “Now you don’t have anything to say? That’s certainly different.” Harry chuckled lowly before he turned to his left to look at the others who were all attentive. “Liam, since I made that threat to you earlier, I’m absolutely positive that you had to have found the Princess somewhere. Tell me, where’d you find him?”

Liam’s eyes darted away shamefully, “I—“

“He was hiding in Miss Calder’s room, wasn’t he?” Harry intervened as he watched at the brunette that now grew rigid beneath his gaze. Eleanor’s eyes remained glued to her lap and she winced the moment Harry’s hand made contact with her shoulder. Behind his back, he was positive that he was giving Louis a show.

Harry leaned downward to brush a piece of Eleanor’s hair to the back of her ear. The female was trembling ever so slowly, but it was still notable to the pirate captain that smiled at her plainly.

Sitting upward, Danielle’s eyes furrowed, “Harry, no, technically the room’s mine and—“

“Did I ask you to speak, Danielle?” Harry snapped out furiously, he glanced over at the curly haired brunette that instantly sat back down; she immediately remarked her apologies, not before sending a fleeting concerned glance at Eleanor.

Niall and Zayn removed all traces of protest from their faces the moment they heard him sternly speak out against Danielle. Even Liam quietly put his head down.

Knowing he’d meet no opposition, Harry turned his attention back to Eleanor, “Eleanor, you know that I’m an impatient man, right?” He gently spoke.

“Yes, sir.” She muttered out quickly.

“You also know that these past few days I’ve been missing a certain someone very much and it kind of made me a bit,” He tightened his hold on her shoulder, “ _Upset_.”

Eleanor made a small noise of pain but she nodded,

“If you ever try to hide him from me again, I swear to every possible God there is out there, I will literally make your last moment on the Earth the most painful thing ever. Do  _not_ keep what is mine away from me—“

Before he could finish, Harry was suddenly grabbed by his shoulder and yanked backward. He released his grip on Eleanor and turned around to glare at whoever had touched him, and the second he met with Louis’s eyes he glowered at him darkly,

“Can you just stop!?” Louis angrily growled, “I swear to you, Eleanor had nothing to do with anything! She had no idea where I was! No one did! I was in one of the prisoner rooms! Just leave everyone the fuck alone! They didn’t know anything!”

In the background, Harry heard Zayn give a whistle before Liam hushed him down.

Harry stood watching ahead at the prince, his mind already processing the lies down pact.

Was this boy seriously trying to lie to his face like that?

How  _stupid_ did Louis think he was?

This was insulting. Much too insulting for Harry’s liking.

Louis didn’t understand anything.

Without another word, Harry’s hand was at the leash of the collar and he was forcibly pulling Louis’s face toward his. Louis gave a strangled noise from the sudden action, but before he could adjust himself, Harry was speaking, “If you’re not in my quarters in the next two minutes, everyone on this ship will be having some major issues.” Harry released him before standing to his feet.

He folded his arms over his shoulder and glared at Liam strongly, “Put the fire out and all you drunken bastards can go to bed before you all end up falling off of the ship.” Not remarking on anything else in his growing temper, Harry turned and began to walk away.

In Harry’s wake, Louis could honestly say he actually felt a bit of terror growing inside of him.

He remained in his stationary position, his mind replaying Harry’s fierce expression over and over…

“As scary as that was, you all can’t say you didn’t see it coming.” Zayn was the first to break the silence right after Danielle brought Eleanor into an embrace as the shaken girl began to cry softly.

Niall and Liam looked at the dark haired male as though he was stupid and Zayn held his hands up in defense, “We all helped store away the Princess, and now Harry’s mad. We all knew it’d happen from the moment we helped him out.”

Liam scowled, “That’s why I never wanted to help hide Louis away because now Harry’s upset. Why did I let you guys all drag me into this?” He sighed with a shake to his head as he stood to his feet, “So much for telling funny stories around the fire…” The First Mate began walking to the other side of the fire where the other crew members had been completely oblivious to the fall out that had just occurred.

“I’ll help you out, mate.” Zayn called to Liam as he rose to his feet to assist the brunet in taking out the flames.

“Hey, you alright?”

Louis was snapped out of his dazed train of thoughts as Niall was flanked at his side, the blonde’s expression concerned. Louis nodded his head slowly, “Yeah… I’m just sorry for bringing you all into this because now Harry’s angry at all of you and it’s just so,” He ran a hand through his hair, “Annoying…”

The Irishman smiled good-naturedly, “One thing about Harry is that he’s easy to get angry, but he’s also easy to get… Well, un-angry.” The blonde gave the royal a toothy grin, “Don’t worry. Just go into his room and when he’s yelling at you, all you have to do is accept all the blame; just accept all of it even if you don’t like it. He’ll stop being so pissed off and he’ll make your punishment lighter than if you resist him.”

Although helpful, it wasn’t exactly reassuring.

Especially thinking back at how the last two ‘punishments’ that Harry gave him were sexual torture, Louis wasn’t so sure if he wanted to go anywhere near Harry’s room.

“Why is it that every time we collide, sparks fly all over the fucking place?” Louis groaned into his hands desperately, “Why can’t he and I just have a normal fucking conversation and let that be the end of it!?”

Niall chuckled, “It’s because Harry likes you a lot. Your personalities are really similar so maybe that’s why when you guys talk, everything explodes?”

“We are  _not_ alike! I’m nothing like that boy!” Louis hissed out defensively.

Niall shrugged his blue eyes gazing off to where Zayn and Liam were now putting out the fire, “You’re both used to always getting your way so you try to out top the other. As much as I support you, I think it’s best if you just let Harry take the wheel for a while, at least until you two have a solid relationship. I’ll keep saying it until you realize it… Harry’s  _not_ a bad guy, Louis.”

His words made Louis pout slightly and Niall kept his smile, “Just try to think about everything from his perspective and you’ll see! Go easy on him.” He gave Louis a comforting pat on the back while the royal stood up with a scowl.

“I would try to see things from his way, but I don’t know if I can stick my head that far up my ass.” Louis mumbled in disdain as he began making his way toward Harry’s quarters.

When he made it to the door, Louis contemplated on just turning and walking away, but he knew it’d only create more difficulty later. Turning the knob, Louis gradually made his way inside.

Once again, he thought about everything from the beginning.

If his father had only kept his promise…

If he had…

Louis wouldn’t be worried about any of this because he wouldn’t have met Harry, the captain standing near the entrance of the door with crossed arms and a rather frigid expression on his face as he watched Louis enter the study room.

“Glad to see you made it.” Harry sarcastically stated after the royal closed the door.

“I didn’t have much of a choice.” Louis retorted.

Harry shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe you would have made up some story about how you got side tracked by some mermaids out in the sea or you got lost tripping down a rabbit hole on your way here.” He waved off with a snort.

Defensively, Louis took a step forward, “What I told you wasn’t made up—“

“You know something?” Harry snapped out, “I’m getting really fucking tired of your bullshit.”

Not prepared for the outburst, Louis halted his words as the curly haired captain heaved a breath. “Don’t lie to me. That’s all I ask of you, Louis. Just  _stop_ your lies. It gets me so mad you don’t even realize…” Harry breathed out as he took off his hat to run a hand through his hair.

Louis frowned, “How do you know what I said was a lie?”

Harry shook his head as he released a dry laugh. He began walking toward his desk, “Does it really matter how I know? I know that telling lies run in your blood, but I’d appreciate it if you’d stop or at least when you’re talking to me.”

Hearing the strike at his family, Louis was suddenly filled with a bit of nausea at the remembrance of Harry’s family’s passing.

Pushing down a lump that was beginning to grow within his throat, Louis slowly began making his way toward Harry as he shuffled throughout the numerous papers on his desk. “I’m sorry for lying to you.” Louis honestly voiced.

Harry’s hands paused as he clearly wasn’t expecting that sort of response, however he quickly shook his head with a scoff, “No, you’re not. You’re just sorry you got caught—“

“Harry, I’m really sorry.” Louis pressed as his hand reached out to touch the captain’s shoulder.

Harry stiffened and Louis moved closer to him,

“Not just for this, I’m sorry for what my dad did to you.” He gave Harry’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “I’m sorry for what he did to your mother and sister, okay? I—“

Without warning, Harry pushed Louis off of him aggressively. Louis was unprepared for it and was nearly thrown off of his feet as Harry dusted off his shoulder, anger in his eyes, “Don’t you dare even fucking go there! You aren’t fucking sorry and I don’t want your fucking pity!”

Louis’s eyes grew wide as his eyebrows furrowed, “Harry, I’m being serious! I know what my father did was wrong! I was ignorant to what he’s done in his reign and I admit I still am, but it was wrong and I just want to say sorry, alright!? I’m not mocking you!”

Harry’s lips pulled into a slight snarl before the pirate captain was in Louis’s face, fuming, “If you were so sorry about it, then how come you haven’t done anything against it!? All you fucking royals and nobles are so damn selfish and that’s what I hate about you all! You don’t care unless it affects you! If you weren’t on this ship and I wasn’t in control, you wouldn’t give a single fuck about what your father has done!”

“How are you going to tell me what I would and wouldn’t give a fuck about!? You can’t tell me who I am! Why can’t you just accept my fucking apology instead of being so damn difficult!?”

“How can you expect me to accept your apology when it’s so lined with bullshit!?”

“You know what!? Fuck this and fuck you! I’m done—“ Before he could finish and turn away like he wanted, Harry’s lips were crashing into his with enough force that sent intense pain to his face. Their noses hit with a great power and Louis choked in an effort to catch his breath as Harry’s arms and hands were at his body already pulling at his shirt.

Against the better of him, Louis kissed back just as roughly, fighting to take domination of the kiss as Harry attempted to stop him,

Harry pulled away briefly for a breath of air before he back at him and from the violent way he was attacking Louis’s lips, Louis found himself being pushed backward until his back was against the wall opposite of the desk.

“One of things I remember from when I was young,” Harry gasped out as Louis’s shirt was practically shredded to the floor beneath them. “Was how I had a stupid childish crush on you.”

Louis’s hands worked at taking off Harry’s over coat which was surprisingly heavier than he thought it was. When it hit the floor he attempted to take off Harry’s shirt, but before he could, Harry’s lips were at his neck and Louis’s breath hitched when he felt the curly haired brunet sucking on his sensitive skin hard.

He moaned as Harry’s free hand began fumbling to find a way to Louis’s crotch.

Harry’s lips moved away from Louis’s neck, “Before the Massacre, before I lost everything, I remember wanting you.” He gave a push and Louis’s back slammed against the wall in the midst of a pain filled groan that was interrupted with Harry’s movement to the other side of his neck, “I remember how much I wanted to somehow be up there with you, at the top. I had the foolish delusion that one day we could get married and I’d be royalty too.” Harry gave a dark chuckle right before he lightly traced his lips around Louis’s neck, stimulating a pleasuring sensation in Louis’s body.

Louis struggled to look down at the brunet, the new found information was getting a bit hazy on him as he felt his crotch stiffening and with Harry’s body nestled on top of his, he wasn’t getting into a comfortable position.

Harry glared up at him, “Now, I just want to take you in front of your father. Let him see me fuck you into complete and total submission. I want him to see a filthy Catholic pirate fucking his precious son right before his eyes.” A smirk came to Harry’s face as he put his hand under Louis’s chin, “I want to do that so badly, Princess.” Harry’s lips pushed against Louis’s firmly, but not nearly as rough as before and Louis choked for a breath the moment he pulled away.

“As much as I want to do it, I probably won’t if you behave yourself.” Harry sized the royal judgingly, “I like you a lot, Princess and if I didn’t know any better I’d say you actually like me back.” Harry put a grin on his face as he removed his hand, “I’m a better friend than enemy. Try not to make me too angry.”

“Don’t think I’m suddenly your little whore!” Louis called out to him after he bent down to pick up his over coat and fallen hat from the ground. Harry glanced over his shoulder blankly as the older male grunted, “I’m a better friend than enemy as well as you know. I may feel bad for what my father has done but that doesn’t give you any right to talk about things like that in front me.” Louis solidly stated,

“I get where you’re coming from, I really do, Harry… But don’t cross the line because if you do I won’t hesitate to do something.”

The Prince of the Seven Seas paused as though to evaluate the royal’s words before he chuckled softly, “Princess, I swear you’re prettier with your mouth shut. You have so much spunk.” He picked up his clothing and began moving to the door to his room.

Behind him, Louis followed in annoyance, “The fact you continuously call me ‘Princess’ and degrade me is part of the reason why I do.”

Humming, Harry set his hat to hang up on a hook at one of the walls, “So if I stop degrading you you’ll try to be at least a bit civil with me?” He said it so casually, as though their little aggressive make out session hadn’t just occurred and Louis was still struggling to get his untouched erection down without allowing Harry to see.

He had a feeling Harry was always doing that on purpose… Getting him worked up and then receive nothing.

Bastard.

“I won’t  _try_. I  _will be_ _civil.”_  Louis emphasized with a fold to his arms as Harry moved to sit on his bed and take off his boots. The younger male shook his head in mirth, “Interesting.”

“Deal or not?”

“It can be a deal, but I can’t make any promises about not calling you Princess. I think it suits you.”

Louis huffed indignantly as he took a seat at the other end of the bed with his arms still crossed over his chest, “I don’t see how.”

“You’re terribly blind.”

**Chapter 12.**

Louis could be completely honest when he said within his 20 years of living on Earth; he had never shared a bed with anyone before.

Not his mother, his father, or any of his sisters.

He could see why now.

With his body lying on its side, he found breathing rather difficult when paired with the fact Harry’s face was less than two inches away from his own and the pirate captain’s arms were constricted around his in a near suffocating manner.

Louis had no clue when or how he ended up sleeping with Harry in the bed beside him. All he truly could recall from last night was Harry telling him that he had no choice but to sleep in there because he’d make sure no one else would store him away.

Louis kind of figured as much. But he expected it to be as it always had been where he went to bed alone and woke up alone.

Not this time apparently.

He had no clue when Harry snuck in.

Louis stared ahead at the sleeping captain.

How could he get away without disturbing him…?

Not that Louis’s first thought was letting Harry get a good rest; he just didn’t want Harry awake to harass him.

They promised to be civil, but Louis wasn’t comfortable with the pirate holding and touching him so closely. He still was royalty after all. Not just  _anyone_  could touch him after all.

Harry’s eyelids remained peacefully shut, his mouth was opened ever so slightly, and overall Harry appeared at the most serene Louis had ever seen him.  As the royal continued watching ahead at the slumbering teen he had to admit, Harry when he was sleeping was actually kind of cute.

Not the mysterious-attractive that Louis had seen the night when Harry had been on The Rose, but a more subtle and adorable kind of attractive.

Now that they were up close, Louis could actually see the imperfections that marred Harry’s face. From afar, ever since Louis winded up on One Direction it had appeared that Harry was entirely void of any scarring or deformities.

Louis could see the fading scars.

One over his nose that appeared to have been from a sword of some kind. On his chin and seemingly extending toward his neck, Louis was pretty sure there had been a massive burn. Across his cheek there may have been another sword cut, and it was slightly darker than the others that were already melting into Harry’s skin permanently so it must have happened more recently.

He couldn’t help but wonder how Harry received these. What had he been fighting for? Who had actually been able to mark his face? No doubt the person who’d done so was deceased if Louis thought about it, but it was fascinating.

Harry was always thought to be invincible.

Those scars, even if they were hardly noticeable, they still existed and were a reminder of Harry’s humanity.

Over his forehead, Louis could make out what he thought to be another long swished scar. Against his more rational side, he began inching his way closer to see if he seeing right.

“Are you going to back away or will I have to scream for help?”

Louis instantly tried to pull away in surprise, but when he did he found himself unable to.

His mouth formed an ‘o’ as he glanced at Harry who still had his eyes closed; however his mouth was pulled into a slight smirk.

Embarrassed at being caught, Louis sputtered, “W-what!? No, I wasn’t—“

Harry’s eyes opened dully, and Louis had to note how there was no trace of fatigue in his actions, signaling he had been up longer than Louis thought.

“You weren’t about to take advantage of me while you thought I was asleep?” Harry’s eyebrow arched as he released his hold on Louis in favor of sitting upward, “Princess, if I knew you were so naughty I wouldn’t have shared a bed with you.”

Louis blankly watched the pirate while he pushed the sheets off of his upper body, revealing his bare chest. Harry rubbed the back of his neck, “Who knows what else you probably done when I was actually sleeping.”

Flushing, Louis leered at Harry as he flung the covers off of him and jumped out of the bed, “You tosser! As if I’d ever want to do anything with you!”

Harry craned his neck over to look at the fuming prince that was beginning to search for his shoes beneath the bed. “You weren’t saying that last night.” Harry winked.

Louis groaned with a roll to his eyes, “No. No. No, a thousand times no.” He held up a silencing hand and the curly haired male snickered.

“Why so mean now?” The brunet on the bed scoffed out, a hand running through his hair lazily while Louis took a seat back on the edge of the bed to put on his shoes. He felt Harry moving toward him on the bed, and the royal had to roll his eyes, “If you think I’m being mean now prepare yourself because there’s more where that came from if you keep running that ridiculous mouth of yours.”

“Talking isn’t the only thing I can do with my mouth if that’s what you want.”

The teasing tone in his voice made Louis resist the urge to groan and roll his eyes again, because he had a feeling if he did, his eyes would get stuck that way. As he finished tying up his boots, Louis prepared to stand, however Harry’s arms were suddenly draped over his shoulders.

Louis stiffly glanced over at the young adult that had his head rested on top of one of his arms as he stared at Louis plainly, “What do you say?”

Responding almost instantly, Louis shook his head, “Tell me the answer you honestly expect.” He couldn’t help but give Harry an amused look, one that was returned much to his surprise.

Harry gave a small laugh before responding, “Well, considering the fact that no one says ‘no’ to me, I don’t think you want me to do that.”

The brunet sighed and he prepared to remove Harry’s arms from his shoulders, but before he could do so, Harry let out a wistful breath while he pulled himself closer to Louis’s back. A bit startled by his movement, Louis opened his mouth to say something before Harry was ahead of him,

“Princess, I’m kind of the mood to go all the way.” His hand slipped out to grab Louis’s chin and he raised his lips to near Louis’s ear as he whispered, “I promise I won’t tease you like last time~” His words sang out lightly,

Not hesitating, Louis pulled himself away from Harry’s light hold to stand up causing the captain to stumble in an effort to not fall off of the bed.

With an exasperated expression, Louis stared down at him, “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll going to breakfast.” Not saying another word, the brunet turned on his heel to approach the door. When he was about to exit, he glanced over his shoulder as he viewed Harry now standing, his body completely void of any clothing.

Unconsciously, Louis found his eyes leveling over the male’s body,

Harry flipped his hair, a similar judging look on his face as he overlooked Louis, “Like what you see?”

Scowling, Louis folded his arms over his chest with a snarky expression clouding his features, “Considering how there isn’t much to see, you should really put some clothes on.” He gave him a sly smirk before spinning out the door.

He tried to ignore the humor that threatened to enter him when he realized Harry shared the same amusement as evident from the pirate captain’s laugh that came the instant Louis closed the door behind him.

When Louis stepped out on deck, he found himself growing immensely shocked the instant he found his surroundings fogged a bit, but behind the fog, unlike the past few days or as long as his mind could remember since he’d been out at sea, he could actually see something other than water around him.

The Sun was blockaded by a mass of monochrome tinted clouds however it was clear by the mountainous regions and other ships around on the dark water that they were near land— a port to be precise.

Louis felt a hand come to his mouth in surprise as he raced to the side of the ship.

He hadn’t even noticed when the ship had stopped moving because they were already stationed at the dock, however it appeared the bridge to release everyone hadn’t been lowered as of yet. On the dock bridge he saw sailors and fishermen all going about their day, completely oblivious to the fact the Prince of the United Kingdom was actually within reach.

He couldn’t believe this.

He was finally by dry land. So close…

Louis could hear the conversations of the men below, and he was immediately able to deduce their accents as Irish.

They were at a port in Ireland.

This was fantastic.

He couldn’t stop the eccentric grin that began to spread its way on his lips as he watched down below.

This was beyond fantastic.

If he could just get off of the ship and to the authorities he’d be able to go back to his home and reunite with his family.

Everything he’d been wishing for was finally coming into place. His nightmare at sea was coming to an end at last. He could hardly believe this.

Still filled with a whirl of emotions, Louis hoisted himself upward to sit on top of the ship’s edge, his eyes glancing down at the dock below. It was about a six or seven meter fall downward, but if he was able to somehow survive that, he could just jump down and race off into the city.

It wasn’t possible, though Louis still leaned over the edge, his excitement pouring out of his being.

“You seem pretty excited to be at a dock of all places.”

Louis turned around to the sound of Harry’s voice, the captain was now fully clothed and his sleeved arms crossed over his chest as he approached the royal from his quarter’s door to the edge of the ship.

“Not really,” He tried to play off calmly, his gaze fleeting back outward, “Just excited to see dry land.”

“Is that so?” Harry remarked airily as he began to lean against the edge, Louis could feel the male’s penetrating eyes on him as he kept his own blue irises overlooking the busy people at their ships.

He prayed that Harry didn’t think that Louis was trying to escape. If he did, that’d ruin everything.

The brunet nodded with a small smile, “Yeah. It’s been a while since I actually got to see it and all, so I guess I lost a bit of control.” He shrugged before turning to hop off of the ledge.

Harry continued watching him and Louis attempted to laugh off the obviously growing tension, “Well, I’ll just get to breakfast now.”

Behind him as he walked, Harry appeared to be right on his heel, and one thing that kept Louis’s nerves up was the fact that he could still feel Harry’s burning eyes on him.

Harry was suspicious. Something he really didn’t need if he wanted freedom.

“Told you he wasn’t hiding from Harry again.” Niall was instantaneously piped the moment that Louis and Harry walked into the dining room.

On both his sides, Liam and Zayn shook their heads in what appeared to be irritation.

The cheery blonde gave a grin to both Harry and Louis as they took seats beside Liam.

Liam greeted them both with a slight wave and smile, “How are you two this fine morning—“

 “So, Louis does your ass hurt because I will personally go out and get you some pain remedies when we go out to the city later this afternoon.” Zayn intervened.

Liam’s mouth opened into an ‘o’. Harry tried to hide his smirk by drinking his beer. Niall snickered.

“No, but I’m pretty sure you’ll need to get them for your ass after I kick it. Stop with the fucking jokes!” Louis growled out with a sharp glare the dark haired male’s way.

The pirate held his hands up defensively, “You can’t be mad at me when you two are so obviously close at night.”

The First Mate of the ship gave Zayn a warning look, however, “Zayn…” He muttered out seriously.

Zayn paid no heed to it, “I mean, you said it yourself last night, you two are crazy together.”

“You did?” Harry arched a brow curiously, his eyes clearly showing another message as Louis sputtered, “I didn’t say that!”

“Zayn, don’t.” Liam scolded.

Once more, Zayn didn’t abide, “Uh, yeah you did. You said every time you are Harry get together, sparks fly, don’t even bother lying. I got confirmation from another trusted crew member.” He confidently countered as Louis felt his cheeks flush red.

With furrowed brows, he leered at Zayn harder, “Not like that, you twat! I meant we didn’t get along! I’d appreciate it if you didn’t put words in my mouth!”

Liam’s hand shot out across Niall to give Zayn a slight shove while he gave him a silencing look, “Zayn Malik if you dare say something else…”

Shrugging, Zayn cleared his throat, “Last one, Li. I promise.” He looked back over at Louis with a smirk, “But I’d bet you’d appreciate it if Harry put his dick in your mouth. LIAM, I SWEAR THAT WAS IT!” He declared with his hands upward in surrender.

The brunet scowled and gave Louis an apologetic look, though it did little to calm him as he scoffed at Zayn,

“You’re an idiot if you honestly think that your little jokes are funny.” Louis sneered to him hotly.

“They aren’t jokes if they’re true.” Zayn stated loosely as he leaned back in his seat.

Liam groaned, “Alright, Zayn. Even if it’s fun to tease Louis, we both know Harry and Louis’s relationship is only a rumor and we need to respect the fact that they aren’t engaging in any sexual activities, especially since we have no evidence.”

Smiling supportively, Louis patted Liam on the back, “Thanks, mate. Nice to know some sensible people exist on the ship—“

The Irishman at the table squinted, “Wait, what?” The four turned to him as he watched at Liam in confusion, “But Liam, we do have evidence… We heard them having sex last night, didn’t we? When we were listening through the door—ARGH!“

Liam and Zayn gave a hard pat to Niall’s back, easily causing the blonde to double over the table with a hack, the two shared anxious looks on their faces as they endured both Louis’s horrified glare and Harry’s cold leer,

“ _Niall James Horan_ , I think you’re still a bit asleep. You’re talking nonsense.” He smiled reassuringly at Harry and Louis, “He’s talking nonsense.”

He watched Harry with a grin to play it off, “We  _weren’t_ eavesdropping and you know, if we were, we’d all be really, really, really, sorry, mate. Because eavesdropping on you in your private moments is bad and not something you’d want your most trusted men on the ship to do and—“

“Niall Horan…  _Horan_ as in the Leinster  _Horans_?” Louis’s steady voice interrupted him skeptically.

Liam halted his words to look at Louis; the royal’s eyes were glued ahead past him and to Niall who meekly sat in his seat, remorse in his irises as he returned Louis’s intent stare with a small nod.

The Leinster Horans of Ireland.

The top nobility on the island of Ireland.

It all made sense now.

That’s why Niall seemed so familiar to him. He was a noble of the United Kingdom.

This was crazy.

“You’re… You’re really a Horan?” Louis choked out in disbelief.

Niall gave him a shy smile, “Yeah…”

Liam held his head in his hands and Zayn groaned loudly, “Fuck.”

“What are you doing here!? Why didn’t you tell me!? Niall, you’re a noble!” Louis was instantly shouting out the first things that crossed his mind. Niall was trying to shrink in his chair and both Liam and Zayn appeared to be cursing at everything about making a stupid mistake, but Louis paid them no mind.

Niall was of nobility and he was on a pirate ship. Why!?

“It’s a bit of a long story…” Niall tried to laugh weakly.

“This is mad! Niall, what happened!? Tell me!”

“I’ll tell you.” Harry offered when it became apparent that the three pirates to Louis’s right weren’t about to voice up.

Louis turned to his left to face Harry as the pirate captain shrugged his shoulders, “I’ll shorten it or give you all the details, that’s to say, if Niall gives me permission to say his story.” Harry’s green eyes went past Louis and Liam to watch the blonde that nodded small.

The royal expectantly watched Harry as he leaned back in his seat,

“Yes, Niall is from the Horan house, the house of nobility known to control the major city of Dublin in Ireland. He met both Liam and Zayn after he snuck out from one of his parents’ parties; apparently, he did that a lot because his parents always had parties.” Harry shrugged, “But One Direction was docked at Dublin and Liam and Zayn had gone off their own way when they met up with Niall. Love at first sight? Interest at first sight? Lust at first sight? Whatever floats their boat, but the moment that Zayn and Liam saw Niall, and he saw them, and suddenly the three were attached by their hips.”

“After that night, when Liam and Zayn returned to the boat, they begged me allow Niall on the ship, which I found especially strange at first. Kidnapping Niall probably would have been beneficial in terms of money, but considering how much of a disadvantaged we’d be at if Zayn  _and_ Liam tried to snatch him, I’d probably lose two of my best men over something so trivial. Against my orders, Zayn still went back into the city and grabbed out Niall who for some odd reason wasn’t very defiant.”

Louis turned to look at Niall in shock, and the blonde scratched his cheek sheepishly, “I thought piracy was cool.” Niall added in lowly.

Harry chuckled humorlessly, “Niall was an oddity. He thought the pirate life would have been better for him than the noble lifestyle. He felt he didn’t belong in the higher class of society. At first, I thought Zayn and Liam wanted him as a pet or some sort, but then Niall started telling me about his anti-royalists views and I suddenly found myself approving 100 percent with him.” He sent Niall a smile that was returned, “One of the best decisions I could have ever made was accepting Niall on this ship. He’s my inside man. He knows how the upper class think because he was one of them but at the same time, he’s known what it’s felt to be oppressed… Especially as a Roman Catholic.”

Ireland was composed of Roman Catholics as opposed to Anglicans.

Niall was of Irish nobility.

Now all of sudden this was all clicking.

“O-oh.” Was all Louis could verbally respond with.

“Of course, with the Horan’s son gone, Ireland was in a fuss for quite a while, but it died down. They all figured Niall to be dead, though rumors still circulate that he’s on a pirate’s ship as a slave.” Harry snorted, “Silly rumors. It’s been about six months and I still can’t believe it’s still going around.”

Zayn gave a huge breath, his eyes shamefully staring down at his empty plate. Liam rubbed his temple tiredly and Harry scoffed, “Don’t act so ashamed, you two! Just fucking shag later tonight, the guilt will go away again.”

Niall blushed with a shake to his head, “Very reassuring of you, Harry.”

“Anyways, Dublin is calling and if you’ll excuse me we all still need to get a move on so I can get my information.” He gave Liam a promising gaze, “We need to get a move on, lads. Get the bridge down and inform the men that we meet back here before the sun sets.”

Still somewhat flustered, Liam’s eyes didn’t meet with Louis’s as he nodded, “Of course, Captain.” He quickly rose to his feet and exited.

“Zayn, Niall, come along. I need help with preparing these shafts below.” Harry beckoned to the two awkwardly sitting pirates.

The two were instantly at attention before they got up and followed after the curly haired captain who swaggered out without another regard to the still seated royal.

Niall paused right before he fully exited the room. He turned to face Louis with a small smile, “It wasn’t personal, Your Highness…”

“It all makes sense now, though. But why didn’t you just say before—“

“You wouldn’t have understood. You probably still don’t understand. But its okay,” He gave Louis a grin, “You’re on the road to understanding… Just give it time and you’ll see why.”

As the door closed, Louis released one heavy and tired sigh.

**Chapter 13.**

"Lou!" Eleanor chirped out with an excited wave Louis’s way the moment he entered the ship’s deck.

The steps to exit the boat to the docks were now being lowered as far as Louis could see. His blue eyes couldn’t help but stray outward to the mountainous land beyond the docks and water as he returned Eleanor’s wave.

Members of the crew appeared just as anxious to leave the ship as Louis; however this didn’t seem to stop the smirks the young men threw his way when they walked past the royal in favor of the bridge.

Giving Eleanor a customary hug, Louis pulled away to watch her absolutely joyful face.

During their time at sea, Louis was pretty sure this was his first time seeing her look so happy.

He couldn’t blame her.

"So, this is it, huh?" Louis breathed out thoughtfully, his eyes glancing all about where the members of One Direction were now beginning to board off of the ship. Eleanor pushed back some of her hair that was beginning to cast over her eyes, “Yeah. I guess by tomorrow we should be back to normal.” The brunette smiled fondly.

Louis chuckled while folding his arms over his chest, “If this all goes well everything will go back to how it was.”

“What’s the plan for when we get off of the ship?” Eleanor asked lowly as Louis beckoned her to follow him to the edge of the ship to overlook the exiting pirates that were all walking along the dock chattering. He leaned over the side and propped his face on his hand when he laid his elbow on the ledge,

“I have a feeling that Harry has a gist of what I want to do, so without a doubt he’ll be keeping a close eye on me.” He scowled lightly, “But we just need to stick together when we go off even if Harry’s there. At one point when I feel his guard is down, I’ll say something like ‘Eleanor your hair looks terrible, go fix it.’ And then you can go off like you’re going to find a toilet but in actuality you’ll go and find the police and direct them to Harry and I. When they see me, everything should work out.” He informed her with a nod.

Eleanor blinked her eyes before taking the tips of her hair into her fingers with a frown, “Is my hair really that bad?”

Glancing away, Louis cleared his throat, “Anyways, I feel as though we’ve been on this boat way longer than necessary.”

The brunette tilted her head, “It’s weird to think that it’s been over a week since we’ve been here.”

“Brilliant.” Louis sarcastically shook his head, “Well, not another day will go by with us on it so that’s good enough for me at this point.” He flipped his hair and watched downward at the men leaving the harbor.

They were luckier than they realized.

Smiling wistfully, Eleanor chuckled, “This will be my first time in Ireland.” She truthfully stated making Louis sigh, “Same.”

“Louis,”

Surprised at hearing his name called, Louis squinted as he turned around to view whoever said his name.

Zayn watched at him rather indifferently, his expression contrasting greatly with the normal vigor amusement he wore when he regarded Louis. He looked completely serious and Louis found himself cocking his head to the side a bit, “Yes?” He politely responded, turning his body around along with Eleanor to face the male properly.

Eleanor smiled obliviously, “Good morning, Zayn. Danielle was actually looking for you earlier—“

“Yeah, I know. I spoke to her already.” Zayn curtly interrupted, his tone was a bit harsher than both Louis and Eleanor expected.

The brunette blinked and meekly tilted her head downward, “Oh. Okay.” She softly remarked and like a mother lion ready to protect its young, Louis was glaring at Zayn, “I’d say I’m sorry to be blunt, but I’m not; what the hell is your problem? You were literally fine ten minutes ago.”

“I actually saw Danielle on my way up here, El.” Zayn stated to the blushing female who nodded, “I didn’t mean to sound rude about it. My apologies.”

Eleanor tried to smile back at him to reassure him it was alright, but Zayn didn’t return it and for that reason Louis found his arms crossing over his chest with an arch brow.

Rude.

The tension in the air was clearly building however; before it could grow any further, Liam and Niall were bounding near them from the anterior region on the ship. Liam appeared entirely confused at seeing the three up on deck.

“What’s going? Why are you up here Louis?” His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Louis turned toward him confidently, “I’m up here because Eleanor and I were waiting to ask you if we could go down into the city. You know, to actually touch dry land in days.”

Niall’s facial expression turned into that of a puzzled puppy and Liam watched at Louis as though he were mentally challenged, something the royal took silent offense to.

“You want to go to the city?” Liam asked in bewilderment, no sooner had he did was Zayn approaching him. The dark haired pirate put his arm around the First Mate’s shoulder before leaning in to whisper something in his ear. Liam took in whatever information with a considerate nod before he watched at the retreating pirate in understanding,

Louis glanced at both Eleanor and Niall and the two clearly had no idea what was going on either so Louis felt a bit more comfortable that he wasn’t completely out of the loop.

Liam scowled while regarding Louis, “I’m sorry, mate but you can’t go.”

Instantly, Louis stood taller with disbelief lining his face, “ _What_!? But why not!?”

His outburst caused Eleanor to sigh and Niall to anxiously bite his lip, “If it makes you feel any better, I can’t go either.” Niall offered out with a slightly raised hand.

Louis shook his head as he stared at Liam, “Liam, I don’t understand. Why…?”

“Do you honestly think we’re stupid?” Zayn now asked, his tone of voice was clearly annoyed and Louis found his eyes cutting up at him just as fiercely. Liam warningly put a hand out to push Zayn backward and Niall appeared even more confused than before.

“Excuse me?” The royal’s stance became defensive as he watched at the tanned male saucily,

Zayn’s hand aggressively pushed away Liam’s and the pirate walked upon Louis firmly. In the background, Louis could hear Liam and Niall saying cautious warnings to Zayn, however Louis stood unafraid as Zayn got into his face.

Both boys glared into one another’s eyes before Zayn hissed out lowly, “You know, before I tried playing off your attitude with jokes, but honestly, it gets a bit irritating, Louis. We are pirates, we are  _not_ idiots, and I  _refuse_ to let you just crush my best mate’s heart with your selfish little escape plan.”

All at once, Louis’s mouth opened out in surprise and his eyes grew wide in panic.

How could Zayn have heard that? Thinking back quickly in the heat of this situation, Louis came to the conclusion that Zayn heard both him and Eleanor talking just a few moments ago. They were probably speaking too loudly and he was walking by.

The pirate scowled, his brown eyes seemingly darkening, “Harry’s feelings clearly stop him from putting you in your proper place but if you decide to hurt him,  _no one_ will stop me from getting you. Watch what you do, Louis.”

Niall’s hand was at Zayn’s shoulder and he pulled back the tanned male with a frown, “Zayn, come on. Harry wouldn’t appreciate it if he saw you trying to push up on his man.”

His attempt at joking gained not a single smile while Zayn continued leering into Louis’s own blue eyes.

“You know, Eleanor, I actually think you can come off the ship. But your clothes are filthy,” Liam informed the female who glanced down at her old dress, “Go ask Danielle for a cleaner outfit. Zayn, you and I can just go and have a quick talk.” Liam’s arms constricted around Zayn’s own before he began pulling him away. Liam glanced over his shoulder with a weak smile at Louis, “You and Niall can go in Harry’s study for the time being.”

As he turned back around to guide Zayn away, Eleanor pouted, “It’s a shame… I wanted to go into the city looking as womanly as possible.”

Niall chuckled, “All of Dani’s stuff is about as far from womanly as you can get.”

“They’re men’s clothes is why!” Eleanor sighed, “Last time I wore her stuff I think the shirt area was way too loose…” She hung her head sullenly while she pulled at the front of her dress. The brunette then glanced at Louis sadly, “Oh, I’m also sorry that you can’t go into the city, Lou… Is the plan still on or?” Eleanor cringed expectantly.

Louis sighed with a shake to his head, “I won’t be there so forget it. I’ll think of something else. Just stay alert when you’re out there, okay?”

After Eleanor nodded and said her good-bye, Niall turned to the royal while the two began walking to Harry’s study.

The blonde appeared entirely curious, “Plan? What plan?”

“It was nothing.” Louis’s hand took a hold of the doorknob and he glanced out over the ship to the harbor, a jabbing pain in his stomach as realization began to dawn upon him.

Zayn no doubt told Liam about what he heard, and they would obviously tell Harry. With Harry’s suspicions confirmed, Louis had zero chance of getting back home ever again because he’d never be let off of the ship. There was still Eleanor for this moment, but he already told her it was called off until further notice.

So now…

He was stuck on One Direction.

Forever.

He tried to fight the twitch and intensifying agony erupting within his chest.

One stupid mistake cost his chance at freedom. He would never get off of the ship now. He was never going to make it back home to see his family. This was going to be his life until the day he died.

He was going to be Harry’s little plaything until his heart stopped.

“Louis, if you want to get inside, I think you need to turn the doorknob.” Niall informed, breaking Louis out of his train of thoughts.

The royal shook his head, attempting to expel his mind of those depressing conclusions, “Oh, sorry.” He muttered before turning the knob and entering the study with Niall behind him.

Niall laughed, “Last time you tried running away before I could look inside Harry’s bedroom.” The Irishman ran to the door on the other side of the room excitedly. His hands felt up the wooden door with a cheeky grin, “Now is the time I see Captain Hazza’s true living space.”

Louis raised a brow as he watched the peculiar blonde glance around the room suspiciously as though Harry had set up some kind of trap to stop invaders from entering.

“Captain Hazza?” Louis repeated out in a scoff, but he was ignored as Niall apparently deemed the door safe enough to enter.

“I’m going in. Have my back, Your Highness.” Niall commanded playfully with a wink before he swung open the entrance and dove in.

Rolling his eyes, Louis walked in behind him.

“I’ve slept in here too many times. There’s nothing special in here accept for the fact the porthole is too small for me to jump out of.” Louis gestured to the single window at the side of the room while moving to take a seat on the bed where he watched Niall circling the middle of the room with his arms outstretched.

Niall pouted, “Well, shit! I thought he’d have something mysterious in here or something! This is boring!” He huffed before taking a seat beside Louis.

The brunet watched at the fuming Irishman with a shake of his head, “You know. You don’t act much like a pirate… Or a noble.” Louis honestly remarked, causing Niall to sigh heavily,

“I’ve never acted much like a noble so it’s fair for you to say that I guess.”

Louis watched at him curiously, “Do you not like talking about it or something?”

The Irish blonde shrugged his shoulders as he glanced away, “I’m not uncomfortable talking about it, I guess. But I keep it short because going into details isn’t necessary, I guess… I just… The noble lifestyle didn’t fit me.”

Nodding, Louis leaned his head downward, “I don’t really understand. Also, Harry said you were anti-royalist?” He grimaced, “Are you really?”

Niall laughed as a way to ease the growing awkwardness in the room, “Well, I don’t mean to offend you, Your Highness, but your father is a terrible ruler.”

“Nothing I haven’t heard before since getting on the ship.” Louis crossed his legs and ran a hand through his hair, “I know his religion policies are—“

“Not just his religion policies.” Niall interrupted, “His policies in general… They’re terrible.”

Speechlessly, Louis watched Niall tap his legs before speaking up once more, “Ireland is a Roman Catholic island and we’re treated as inferior not only because Great Britain is Protestant, but because the nobles over there just think they’re better than us period. Our people starve and are stripped of their land in favor of the English and Scottish settlers, especially up in the north. We aren’t regarded as full citizens, hardly even humans.”

“Not the nobles of course.” Niall chuckled humorlessly, “The nobles live on life as though thousands in the country aren’t without a home or on the brink of starvation. I hated that. I hated knowing that while I was overly stuffed with things I didn’t even want, people were out on the streets a few kilometers away. It made me sick that my parents didn’t care either even when I voiced my opinion on it. Out of sight, out of mind seems to be the main focus for people with too much money and power, I guess.” He shrugged, “I’m not into that. I never have been.”

So Niall just didn’t believe in keeping to himself.

He would truly be an oddity in the higher class of society if that was the case.

Louis couldn’t recall ever meeting a noble who actually cared about the poor people. It wasn’t you, so why should you care?

But when he thought about it, and his mind moved back to Harry’s origins, he found himself realizing exactly how selfish that sounded. Selfish actions could do a lot… Perhaps a bit too much.

Louis grimaced and the blonde swung his leg outward leisurely, “When I think about it… I’m really a coward for running away from my home. I couldn’t even tell my parents goodbye properly or anything. The guards of the house saw me getting carried away by Zayn, so they’ll be forced to live with the idea I was kidnapped. I know it hurts them, but…” He pursed his lips, “I won’t go back. I can’t go back. I love this ship and the people on it too much to go back to living in those closed walls.”

Hearing that, Louis perked up, “To be honest, I actually am amazed at how cooperative you are on the ship. You love it that much? Just because it’s an escape from how you lived before?”

“I guess you can say I love it a lot because I’m not only finally living how I want, without people telling me how to act and being able to help people when I can, not in Leinster of course, but everywhere else we dock at I can get off the ship and spare some of gold and steal an apple or two for those in need.” Niall smiled happily,

“I still can’t fully understand you.” Louis truthfully breathed out, “If I had the same freedom opportunities as you I wouldn’t be here…”

“Which is why I never told you I was a noble when we first met.” Niall beamed, “You understand me partially, but watch, soon you’ll get me completely. But until then, what else do you wanna talk about?”

His childish way of moving on to another topic made Louis smile, the Irishman was so energetic and adorable, “Nothing really. But is the reason you don’t have a weapon because you’re still new to being a pirate?”

“What? Oh, no!” He laughed with a wave of his hand, “I have a weapon! I’m not too new to being a pirate. I’ve been one for almost six months now. Zayn helps me when he’s teaching me useful tricks and what not considering how experienced he is and how Harry just likes watching me fall on my face when I practice.”

“Harry  _would_ be an asshole like that. But that’s pretty nice of Zayn. Why doesn’t Liam help you out?”

Niall sighed, “He gets all apologetic whenever he hurts me even though it’s called practice for a reason. Zayn is a pretty good teacher even if he roughs me up a bit too much.”

That sounded pretty keen to Liam’s personality. But Zayn…

Louis knew he was strong, it had been brought up a few times by Liam and Niall, even Harry and Danielle. For the most part, he’d always been joking around and affectionate especially toward Niall and Liam. But earlier, when he suddenly lashed out for Harry’s sake, Louis was surprised.

He wondered why he was so defensive about Harry’s feelings…

But now that Louis thought about it… He heard practically everyone’s back story… Except for Zayn’s.

“What’s the deal between Harry and Zayn? What’s Zayn’s story?” Louis asked vaguely making Niall blink, “Zayn’s back story? Eh, you’ll have trouble finding that out.” The blonde shook his head and when Louis squinted in confusion, the Irishman frowned,

“Zayn is a pretty secretive guy. He hasn’t told anyone on the ship about his origins except for Harry. I think it’s pretty dark if they aren’t willing to say, but Zayn says it’s nothing big and he just prefers to keep it personal. Harry definitely isn’t telling anyone any time soon, so Zayn’s kind of a mystery.”

A mystery? “A mystery… That’s really strange.”

Niall shrugged, “One day if he’s ready, I’m sure he’ll tell us where he’s from and what happened.”

“Wow, that’s—“

Louis’s words were lost into the sudden loud  _bang_ that echoed in the room the moment the bedroom door was slammed opened.

Surprised, both Louis and Niall jumped as their attention averted to the entrance where Harry was located.

The pirate captain stalked into the room faster than Louis had even anticipated right toward him as Niall’s greetings were thrown out excitedly to the curly haired male that reached to grab at Louis’s wrists aggressively.

Not prepared for the assault, Louis released a shout of protest as he found his arms being held overhead right before Harry pushed his back down onto the mattress.

“Uhm, Harry…?” Niall’s voice uncertainly regarded the brunet that was currently staring down at Louis intently, his eyes brimming with an emotion that made Louis know that he was quite literally, fucked.

“Get out, Niall.” Harry firmly stated and in less than five seconds Niall was racing out the door.

With Niall out the room, Louis glared up at Harry impatiently, “What do you want?”

It was an empty question and they both knew it.

Harry left only one hand to hold back Louis’s wrist and instead used his other hand to begin pulling down Louis’s trousers and pants ever so slightly to the point where they were just beneath his butt cheeks.

Harry released a quick and heated breath, “A quick round is all.” The brunet began slipping down his trousers as he brought his clearly hardened cock out.

Louis uncomfortably shifted in the mattress, “I don’t think you can really—“

His words were cut off with Harry’s lips belligerently smacking onto his. The kiss was as rough as Harry always tended to be, but at this point, Louis could say even as his head was being pounded into the mattress that he was growing a bit too used to Harry’s little attacks.

Just as Harry pulled his mouth away, Louis prepared to sit up, but the sharp pain of Harry’s penis into him made him release a rather pain filled groan.

Harry’s lips met with his passionately once more as a way to silence him and Louis knew at this point, resistance was futile.

If Harry wanted a quick round, he supposed letting him get off as fast as possible was the best way to get him away.

Louis couldn’t get his hands free from Harry’s hold above his head, but he tried to return the kiss as powerfully as he could, succeeding in pushing Harry’s offending mouth a couple of inches backward. Harry gave a thrust and Louis flinched, his teeth baring and biting into Harry’s own lip before he released a moan.

Harry didn’t appear to even notice as his hips gave another push into Louis’s arsehole, more rough than the first time. Louis’s hands clenched and he shut his eyes in pain as he felt his own cock beginning to harden from the pleasuring sensation below.

“I’m not a toy,” He tried to gasp out in between Harry’s mouth attacks, “Stop being so damn vicious.”

The pirate smirked into the kiss before pulling away; his eyes watched down at Louis arrogantly, “But Princess, the last time you were so durable.” His head dipped downward and he nibbled at Louis’s ear beneath his mess of hair, “I promised I’d make this quick.” He began turning his hips, and a familiar feeling of ecstasy erupted out in Louis’s body that the royal had to moan a bit more loudly than before.

Harry sighed lightly into Louis’s ear, “But now, I want to drag it out a little longer.” He began pulling out before he sharply went back in, earning another moan from Louis.

“I’m sure you agree, Princess.” Harry remarked shakily, and right after Louis felt himself about to let go. It was a painful pleasure and with Harry’s rough and continuous movements everything was going too fast. He squirmed beneath Harry, and the brunet clearly felt it,

Panting, Louis struggled, “F-fuck, Harry, I’m going to—“

Harry’s mouth pressed against his before he could finish and Louis found himself throwing his hand away from Harry’s own as his back arched away from the mattress as he came.

Harry smirked clearly triumphant as he pulled away from Louis, “Princess, I wanted this to be,” He stopped for a second and Louis found himself raising up breathlessly to reignite their kiss, in between the kiss, Louis heard Harry muffling out something though it fell upon deaf ears right as Louis felt Harry come right inside of him.

He could feel Harry’s hot liquid filling inside of him and despite this, Harry gave one last thrust before fully pulling out, panting heavily.

The pirate captain tsked down at the prince that now had his hands freed from above him.

“That was quick enough.” Louis heaved out in between his tired takes for a proper breath.

Harry moved to give him a quick kiss on the lips once more, and Louis waited for him to pull away and get off now that the deed was done. However, Harry only picked his head upward to glare down at Louis firmly, “I’m letting you go out into the city with me, but promise me Louis. You aren’t going to leave me.”

Still a bit disoriented, Louis took a few seconds to register his words, but apparently it was a few seconds to long as Harry growled lowly and more forcibly pushed his weight on top of him, “ _Promise me_.” He stressed out now.

Louis winced painfully, “I promise!” He quickly replied to appease the captain that immediately let up the pressure.

Harry contently scowled, “Good. Because you’re  _mine_.” He childishly huffed before rising up from on top of the royal who could only stare up at the ceiling, still light-headed from the sex that just took place. He couldn’t even argue with Harry’s possessive statement over him.

However, when realization hit that he had a chance to actually leave the ship, Louis found himself bouncing upward, a new light emitting from within him.

Finally.

**Chapter 14.**

“Okay, I’m ready.” Louis remarked as he stepped out of Harry’s study to the open air of the ship. Harry had came back in after their round to give him a new set of clothes that Louis was pretty sure belonged to Harry himself.

If the dried stain of blood on one of the sleeves and familiarly odd smell of animal fur was any clue anyhow.

He felt out of place in the clothing. He couldn’t see what he really looked like due to the absence of a mirror within Harry’s room, he was confident that he looked a bit ridiculous in pirate clothes though. Eleanor herself when she had worn Danielle’s own outfit the night before had a bit of a funny look going about her, not just because she was wearing men’s clothes, but just in general.

They weren’t meant to wear pirate clothes.

It didn’t fit them at all.

His mind wavered back to Niall, once standing amongst the top of the world, at the top of his country with the elite, was now lowered to a status where he wore nothing but tattered rags on a cramped ship with criminals.

How did he make that shift in life so easily?

He’d been so blessed into the world as a noble and he just threw it all away for Zayn and Liam because of ‘love at first sight’ or whatever?

Louis knew that wasn’t him and it never would be.

Harry watched over him with analyzing eyes and Louis pulled at the bottom of his trousers where tightened boots were giving him too much friction.

“You look good.” Harry complimented simply with a curt nod.

The prince scowled lightly pulled at the cuffed sleeve, “Why do I have to wear this?”

“Because I said so.”

The reply was instant and Louis’s scowl grew fiercer as he glared at Harry challengingly, “I don’t want to catch a rash or some other kind of disease from these because I don’t even know who they belong to. How long do I have to keep this on?”

Harry shook his head, his arms folding over his chest before he began walking in the direction of the ship’s boarding bridge. Louis immediately rushed forward to keep up with him, his gaze marveling around as they began moving down the ramped stairs,

“If you catch a disease feel free to appeal to Miss Calder about it. She isn’t onboard to be a pretty face, you know.” He glanced over at the prince who halted his awing at the numerous amounts of ships in favor of watching Harry who smirked and winked, “You on the other hand, are.”

Feeling his cheeks flush, Louis snorted as he turned his face away, “Well, considering how many assfaces are on that ship,  _someone_ has to be the pretty face.” He quickly countered.

Even without Harry chuckling at the teasing remark, Louis knew he was kidding.

He knew what Harry really wanted him onboard for… Eventual control over the Crown. Louis tried to not think of it that way, especially coupled with the fact that Harry could be an insanely ruthless bastard with not a single care for who he shot down.

The moment they made it to the dock, Louis could honestly say his heart was beating out of control.

So close to the city. So close…

“Here, put this on.” Louis sputtered when Harry’s hat hit him in the face, and his hands were instantly up to catch the accessory piece. Louis’s little daydream fantasy was thoroughly crushed into oblivious as he stared down at the pirate hat within his hand.

It was the same one that Harry occasionally wore while on One Direction, red with gold linens and a single gleaming blue gem at the side that was connected to the mess of feather-like material at the top, the thing seemed like it was actually worth a good amount of money.

Instinctively, Louis glanced at Harry in questioning to why he had to put the hat on, and in response, Harry simply scoffed before cupping his hands around Louis’s and guiding his hands upward to rest the hat on top of his head.

Louis blinked his eyes blankly as he cautiously lowered his hands while Harry removed his own, “There. Now you look like a  _real_ prince.”

The royal’s eyebrows furrowed and he prepared to retort, but Harry’s hands clasped over one of his once more and the curly haired captain flashed him a grin unlike Louis had ever seen before, “I take it you’ve never been to Ireland, let alone Dublin before.”

Taken back by the sudden question and Harry’s expression, Louis couldn’t formulate his words steadily enough, “I… Uh… Well… No.”

He’d hardly been out of England, only traveling into Wales and Scotland about twice in his lifetime. How Harry knew that was a bit unsettling and surprising to say the least.

Harry nodded knowingly, “We’re gunna have a lot of fun today then!”

“Excuse me!?” Louis’s voice trailed off into a bit of a shout as he found himself being yanked forward when Harry broke out into a sprint down the port’s wooden bridge. Each step he took forward forced Louis to make an effort to keep up, which was alarmingly difficult and reminded him that either Harry was capable of running at superhuman speeds or he needed to get in shape.

Even in the midst of the run, Louis couldn’t help but find his eyes gleaming as he looked ahead.

He was actually on dry land and on his way toward freedom.

When Harry finally stopped, it was just on the outskirts of the entrance into the city centre. Passing them by the whole time had been curious people that Louis occasionally lost sight of whenever Harry’s hat slid over his eyes and he struggled to adjust it over his head without having it slide back downward or fly off of his head all together.

Panting, Louis found his hands moving to his knees as he hunched over to catch his breath that was slipping from his lips at such a rapid pace along with the sensation of lungs that felt just about ready to collapse in his rib cage from exhaustion.

Harry on the other hand, simply let out a breezy laugh as he wiped his forehead, “That was a fun jog. Got my heart pumped up for some excitement.” He glanced downward at the brunet that was still doubled over and he smirked slightly, “Don’t you agree, Princess—“

“Fuck off.” Louis hissed, however the moment the words came out his mouth he inwardly scolded himself.

He was in public now.

The distant chatter of the civilians within the crowded centre, coupled along with the clattering of horse hooves that hit against the rundown cobblestone and occasional shouts of advertisement from city venders reminded Louis that now, he was in civilization once again.

His eyes scanned over his surroundings in wonder,

Many men seemed to occupy the population around as well as a few women and children who all appeared too caught up in their daily routine to even pay notice to Louis who was glancing all about him, taking in the sights of the venders and stores along with the occasional galloping horse drawn carriages that transported either people or cargo.

“You’ve never been to a city centre before?” Harry arched a brow as Louis snapped his attention back toward him.

Louis prepared to retort back wittily, but one look at Harry’s expression and the prince knew he was honestly curious.

Suddenly feeling a bit ashamed, Louis glanced away, “In England when I made visits into the town in my carriage if that counts?” He couldn’t help but finish it as a question because in actuality, he didn’t even truly make visits. The only time he made ‘visits’ was to pass through the town to get to another. He hardly even looked out the window to take a peek at how everyone was fairing outside the walls.

Harry simply nodded his head in understanding.

Louis once again moved his eyes from Harry in favor of watching the scenery around him. His hand moved to push back up Harry’s hat that was once again threatening to take over his face.

“Well, we can take a look around since you seem so curious.” Harry stated airily and Louis found himself blinking when the pirate captain’s hand grabbed his wrist. Harry began walking forward and Louis followed after without much of a choice.

Pushing past a majority of the people ahead, Harry paved a way for both him and Louis toward the venders that were negotiating prices with several men.

Items ranged from food like potatoes to trinkets like voodoo necklaces as far down the line as Louis could see with the wooden stands built up down the road.

When Harry stopped moving and released his wrist, Louis snorted before muttering out a quick, ‘I’m not a child’ and going about to examine the pieces of jewelry set up on the table for display.

As far as real jewels were concerned, it was  _far_ too easy to distinguish every single one of the items’ gems as fake that Louis gave a dry laugh while he played with one of the necklaces in his hands.

Harry leaned forward to look at the gleaming ruby, “If you want my opinion, I’m sure you’d look real pretty with that on.”

“Oh, shut up.” Louis intervened with a roll of his eyes, “I’m just laughing at how pitifully fake and tacky these things are. Only a fool with horrible fashion taste would  _actually_ buy one of these.” He carelessly dropped the necklace back on the table before he moved his irises around for another piece to examine.

Harry whistled, “Sassy.”

“What was that?”

“I said you look really pretty.”

With the charming smile that was flashed his way when Louis gave him a glare, the royal couldn’t help but roll his eyes, “Well, tell me something I don’t know.” He mumbled distractedly, he pretended to avert his focus back on the ornaments set up at the vending area, however as Harry’s hat began to slip over his forehead once more, Louis’s eyes flashed over to his right side in search of an opening he could possibly use to just break away and run.

If he ran, he was more than positive that Harry would successfully catch him.

He was dealing with a criminal, not only that, one of the best damn criminals in the whole fucking world. If he wanted to get away, he couldn’t rely on his physical side which was far disadvantaged in comparison to Harry… He’d have to outsmart him and he knew for a fact that his own strategic mind was more than capable of rivaling Harry’s more sneaky set.

Once he got away, the first place he’d have to go would be St. Patrick’s Cathedral… The Bishop would be able to help him.

“If you plan on buying anything, just tell me.” Harry insisted as he shifted along with Louis whenever the brunet moved down the vending line to look at whatever else he could.

Louis gave an incomprehensible mumble to give the idea that he was still warped in looking at commoner’s goods.

He had to admit, the people of Dublin certainly had a lot of potatoes and fish… Which he supposed made sense because Dublin was right by the sea and potatoes were all the Irish could breathe.

“Now why would anyone want to play with these things?” Louis found himself asking aloud as he glanced over a wide array of kites.

The patterns on all of them were creative, he had to admit, but kite flying seemed so  _dull_.

You stand on the ground holding a piece of rope while the thing flew in the air. What was so fun about that?

“My sister used to love kites.” Harry softly remarked while he picked up one of the more box-shaped kites that had been splash painted. Not prepared for the rather serious topic, Louis found himself freezing up as Harry examined the kite more closely; “I never understood why,” Harry glanced over at Louis with a small smile, “I mean, what’s so great about standing and holding rope?”

Weakly, Louis nodded, “Maybe she just liked watching the scenery?”

He didn’t like talking about this.

It made him feel too uncomfortable as though the air around him was too thick to properly breathe. Harry speaking to him about his deceased sister, who was only deceased because of Louis’s father, was strange and left a large sensation of foreboding over Louis’s heart.

Harry tilted his head slightly, a rather uncharacteristic frown coming to his lips, “Maybe. Or maybe because kites were one of the only play things we had.”

“Oh.” Was all Louis could say. Because what else can you say when in a situation like this?

With Harry’s continuous stare on the kite within his hands, Louis could easily say this had to be his first time seeing Harry like this.

He looked so distant; his eyes didn’t appear to be with him.

It was strange.

Seeing Harry so  _sad_ was strange.

“Harry, I have sisters too, you know.” Louis stated, his arms moved to intertwine with the curly haired male’s own limb and he maneuvered his hand to cover one of Harry’s that clutched the kite, “They’re troublesome at times. Since I’m the only boy, it gets a bit frustrating too. Girls can be really complicated.” He offered him a minuscule smile.

Harry sighed as he shook his head. He lowered the kite and turned to face Louis simply, “Ironically enough, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to marry you when I was younger.” Harry untangled their arms and Louis found himself growing a bit embarrassed as Harry watched him seriously, “All the females around me were lovely, but far too strange for my liking.” He chuckled while fitting his hands into his pockets,

“Then I looked at a picture of you and suddenly I had the perfect lover in mind.” His eyes moved upward, “If only I could go back in time. I’d tell myself not to worry, because the prince  _does_ end up being mine. Technicalities aside.”

“Can I just begin to say how I thought you were being sweet but then you just had to ruin it with that last bit? Asshole.” Louis growled while leering offensively at the leisurely standing pirate that shrugged uncaringly.

Louis would have gone off with a thousand insults that flashed into his mind that attacked practically everything about the captain, but before he could, Harry was looking at one of his golden pocket watches skeptically.

“We should get going.” Harry mused to himself quietly.

Louis arched a brow, “Get going where?”

Without an answer to his question, Harry turned to begin walking, and he only held up a single hand that beckoned Louis to follow after him.

Now, the prince began weighing his options.

He could run now. Harry wasn’t paying attention. If he just turned and ran, he could probably get far enough away from Harry and get his way to the Cathedral for the clergy’s assistance.

Harry’s back was going further into the crowd and just as Louis took a step backward, Harry glanced over his shoulder, his eyes impatient as though to say ‘Hurry up’.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Louis took a shaky step forward to catch up with the brunet.

He’d have to have another opportunity…

 “So where exactly are we going?” Louis breathlessly inquired as he made it in step beside the strutting captain.

Harry flipped his hair casually, not stopping to give the prince a glance, “To visit an old friend of mine.”

Speaking of old friends…

“Do you know where Liam, Zayn, Danielle, and Eleanor are? Also, why do you guys keep Niall locked up on the ship alone?”

“I know that my entire crew is within the city. Knowing Zayn and Danielle they probably tried going into a whore house and knowing Liam and Eleanor they stopped those two from going into the whore houses. Niall is locked up on the ship, not alone I mind you, Josh and a few others are still onboard, because we’re in Leinster and it’d be completely idiotic of me to allow him here when searches for the missing Horan noble are still going on.” Harry let out an arrogant snort that Louis had to roll his eyes at,

It made sense that Niall wasn’t going off the ship for that reason and the more Louis thought about it, the more stupid it made him seem for even asking the question in the first place.

“Alright… So how far away is this place? Because I’m not feeling all too comfortable…” Louis honestly muttered, they had been walking for about ten minutes in pure silence aside from Louis’s grunts and pants from when he nearly toppled over the uneven ground that was roughly put together and Harry’s warning growls toward the homeless beggars that all intently watched both the boys as they kept their descent down the road.

Louis noted that the farther they walked the more rundown the area became.

The centre hadn’t been nearly this bad with the amount of poor people in the streets and the buildings looked inhabitable. Here, everyone was skinnier than Louis ever thought possible and had the dirtiest rags to cover their bodies.

He couldn’t help but wonder where they’d go when winter set in. Those thin clothes they had on and the small blankets would hardly help them from the stormy rain that would eventually come.

It was sad to think about and watch, especially when he saw the children without a guardian all alone.

“It’s disgusting, isn’t it?” Harry humorlessly laughed as he shook his head, his steps not faltering, “How they’re all suffering out here?”

Louis didn’t know how to respond, his mind going back pace to Niall who had lightly told him of Ireland’s struggle due to the Crown and British nobility.

Once again, he found guilt squirming its way into his stomach.

Niall said it was bad… But this was  _terrible_.

Exactly how many places were there in Dublin like here? How many places in  _Ireland_? He knew the number had to be higher than his teachings in England ever told him. He knew there were poor people and he knew they were hurting… But this was just sad.

He watched a mother try to pacify her sobbing infant to no avail. The woman glanced upward and made brief eye contact with Louis. Frowning, the prince quickly looked away and turned to Harry who sighed, “The place is right in here.” Harry hummed as he came to a stop at a door down one of the narrow alleyways.

Louis unsurely looked around the area as Harry gave a double knock to the wooden entrance.

A sliding peep hole was opened toward the top middle of the door, and a set of eyes glared down at both brunets.

“Identification, Styles.” Harry simply droned out. The eyes seemingly nodded in confirmation at him before moving to look at Louis right as Harry’s hat went over his face. “He’s with me.” Harry stated easily.

As Louis pushed the hat back up, he came to see the door opening ever so slowly.

The inside was dark and only a few dim oil lamps lit up the area that appeared to be just like a bar-esque set up.

“Welcome back, Captain Styles.” The rather burly man who had opened the door for them greeted, his voice a low octave that made Louis cringe as he followed after Harry who began walking coolly down the aisles of the place all too familiarly.

“Excuse me,” Harry said in regards to the woman working behind the counter of the bar, she wore men’s clothes but her hair still flowed long and her face was too feminine for her to pass as a male. “Do you know when Captain Cowell is coming in this afternoon, love?” He smiled charmingly at the female and Louis found irritation entering the pit of his stomach at that moment.

Harry sounded so  _fake_.

Did he really just have to turn on the ‘charm’ for this woman? Why couldn’t he just put in the terror that came with his title of the infamous Captain Styles?

Honestly, he was smiling and being all cutesy when he was normally scowling and glaring for this girl. She wasn’t even special.

The girl giggled and leaned over the counter, her boobs practically pushing against the surface of the countertop toward Harry as she batted her eyelashes, “Sorry, I can’t say I do. However, you’re free to stay in here as long as possible until he does come in.”

With her rich curls and brown eyes, she reminded Louis a lot of Danielle but with the little booby show going on; it was insulting to place Danielle in the same league as her.

“Hm… But I may grow bored. Perhaps, you can provide me with some company while I wait, young miss?”

Why was Harry even flirting with her? He was always supposed to be tough, wasn’t he?

He could remember practically everyone on the ship telling him that he had always been the one to receive Harry’s good side. Only him.

So why was this bitch getting the smiles that was only supposed to be going towards Louis?

He couldn’t help but glare at her in annoyance.

“Oh? But what about your friend?” She didn’t even glance in Louis’s direction.

“What about him?” Harry smirked as the female let out an irritating laugh, “He doesn’t have to be a factor in this.”

Louis grunted and shot a leer in Harry’s direction, “I—“

“Okay, Captain Styles, I see you still got the password in mind.” The bartender now seriously stated, her playful tone evaporating from her speech in such way that it sounded like a completely different person.

The prince’s eyes grew wide as he turned to look at the female who was now pulling up her hair into a messy bun before she expertly put her legs over the counter and jumped off the edge, “Captain Cowell will see you now.” Her eyes scanned over Harry judgingly,

Confused, Louis glanced at Harry for some sort of answer to the female’s sudden change, but he didn’t appear to notice Louis’s bewilderment,

Harry’s smile didn’t disappear as he returned the evaluating look on her body, “You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Stop staring at my tits like you’re straight. We both know you’re about as straight as my curls.” The female snorted as she turned on her heel to begin leading them down the back of the bar.

Harry let out a snort, “Does this mean we won’t play after I’m done with my meeting?”

“You can suck my dick if that’s what you want, you little nancy boy. Or better yet, suck your friend’s. His dick is probably big enough for your huge mouth.”

“ _Excuse me_?” Louis sputtered out in disbelief,

The captain of One Direction chuckled as he gave Louis a reassuring wink, “Don’t mind her. She’s just an old acquaintance of mine from the Lionheart.”

“Along with this Captain Cowell person?” Louis questioned with furrowed eyebrows,

When Harry didn’t respond and instead began walking ahead to a seat within the back where a single man sat, almost away from all the lights, Louis halted his steps, unsure on if he should follow behind or…

His head looked backward at the free opportunity to just leave.

**Chapter 15.**

Louis took a step backward; his eyes remained glued to the back of Harry’s head as he slowly moved himself rearward.

This was it.

Gradually, he turned his whole body around, his heart beating faster at this.

He was finally getting away from Harry. At last, he’d be on the road to running away.

As Louis prepared to extend his foot forward, he found himself freezing in place as Harry’s voice seemingly echoed throughout his being,

“Princess?”

Louis tried to mask all signs of guilt from his face right before he glanced over his shoulder to look at Harry who was watching him in what appeared to be annoyance,

“What the hell are you doing? Come on.” The pirate captain grumbled with a wave toward him.

Smiling as innocently as possible, Louis nodded, “Yeah, I just really need to use the toilet… Do you know where it is?”

Harry groaned with a roll to his eyes and Louis resisted the urge to take off his thick boot and just chuck it at the over confident twat’s head. Was he  _really_ getting annoyed because Louis had to use the restroom? Inconsiderate little shit.

It reminded Louis why he needed to get away.

Harry didn’t value him as a person at all. He saw him as an object.

Everything else be damned… He had to just get away.

“Go ask Cheryl to show you the way… I can’t keep putting Captain Cowell off.” Harry distractedly mumbled as he turned back around, his eyes fleeting further down the bar,

Louis scowled with a nod, “Okay.” He expected that to be the end of it, and when he released a single breath while turning away to retreat back in the direction where he had came from, he didn’t let Harry’s lasting words mess up his stride,

“Meet back up with me when you finish, I’ll be through the door down the very end of this aisle.”

“ _Okay_.” Louis repeated out a bit more stressed than before.

He tried to stay casual, not show any signs of escaping on his face as he made his way toward the bar set up where the woman from before was still wiping the counter while humming tunelessly.

As Louis approached, his eyes shot at the door, which was still being guarded by the heavily built man.

Knowing that the scene that would occur would be loud if he even attempted to escape through the front door, Louis found himself clearing his throat to the brunette that was cleaning.

“Excuse me, but can you point me in the direction of the restroom?” He politely inquired his hands moving to adjust the hat on top of his head for the umpteenth time,

While glancing upward, the woman pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, “Down this hall,” Her thumb jerked to Louis’s right, “Straight ahead, second door on your right.”

“Thank you very much; I love your earrings by the way.” He complimented with a smile before she returned the beam proudly while she moved out to touch the gleaming diamonds.

The moment his back was turned, Louis rolled his eyes with a grimace.

He just needed to get a plan together…

Maybe there was another way out… Like a back door?

If this place was some sort of underground-meeting place for criminals, surely they had an alternative exit in case the authorities tried to bust in or something.

When he reached the hall as he had been directed to earlier, he tried to remain cautious as he came upon the lavatory door. Taking the knob in hand, he slowly pushed himself in. The place was nothing fancy… Just a single toilet as the room wasn’t too large on its own. The walls were so closely compacted that if Louis extended both of his arms, they’d both touch the walls.

He prepared to turn back with a disappointed grunt; however, his eyes glanced a bit more upward.

An opened window was high up, near the ceiling…

Not discouraged, Louis began thinking of a way to reach it. If he stood on the toilet, he wouldn’t be high enough, but the walls were close… He bit his bottom lip while closing the door behind him. A hand came to his chin before he locked the doorknob.

This was it.

-

Harry tried to keep his posture straight and face held high as he sat across from his old mentor, Simon Cowell, former Captain of the ship Lionheart.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it Captain Cowell?” Harry breathed out with a smile that was hardly returned, not that the expected any differently.

His old Captain had never been one to openly display affection, something Harry had grown all too accustomed to back in his days on the ship that was now hundreds of feet beneath water in the Atlantic.

Simon folded his arms and leaned back in his seat, “We both know you didn’t go through hell and back to find me and schedule this meeting just to talk over old times, Harold. Let’s get straight down to business.”

Harry’s smile dropped and Simon groaned, “I’m actually more curious than annoyed that you managed to find me. I thought for sure I was undetectable to  _anyone_.” The elder man reached over the table for the bottle of liquor before pouring some into his glass. He picked up the cup and slushed it around leisurely, “How did you do it?”

“A pirate captain has his ways of finding things out. I was taught by the best after all.” Harry acknowledged with a shrug that Simon instantly rolled his eyes at, before he leaned backward, “But anyways, I was wondering if you could tell me what you know about the Stuart’s Coffer.”

All at once, Simon’s bored expression turned into that of slight interest as his eyes watched Harry expectantly for him to continue,

“I just need to know because for the past few months, I’ve been aimlessly searching around northern Europe for it. I have several leads and hints, but nothing has given me a solid finding for it. But you’re _you_ so I figured you’d have some sort of idea, if not, the exact coordinates to its location.” He had to be blunt about it.

“Stuart’s Coffer? You’re going after treasure again?” Simon snorted, his mouth moving to take a brief sip of his drink before he shook his head pitifully, “Treasure chests and gold hunts are child’s play, Styles. I thought you grew out of that phase when you became the royal of the seven seas.”

Harry scowled, “I just want to know if you know where it is. I don’t need your opinion on the subject, Captain.”

“I’m not a Captain anymore, Styles.” Simon firmly stated, “I gave up that life for a reason, so you can stop referring to me as that. That aside, yes, I do know where the Stuart’s Coffer is, though I am surprised that you resorted to finding me out just for the thing.”

The pirate captain couldn’t help but raise up to defend himself, “It wasn’t my decision… My First Mate convinced me that we were wasting provisions since we had no clue where to start and that getting a direct answer was best.”

Simon chuckled unsmilingly, “What a world we live in where the captain doesn’t make the decisions… The First Mate does. In any event, I’ll get you the coordinates to the island the Coffer’s on, even if I still don’t understand why you’d want the thing. Just your average chest of treasure.”

Harry nodded his head, “I appreciate it, sir.”

“Now, I actually am quite curious…” Simon now more seriously piped and for that, the curly haired male blinked his eyes while watching back at him intently, “You’ve made a name for yourself, and I’m proud of you for that. You went from cabin boy to captain in so little time and within a few years, you have every single monarch in Europe and colonists in the Americas knowing your name with blood chilling fear, something even  _I_ wasn’t capable of doing. So tell me, at the prime of your career, how does it feel to be at the top of the Wanted list?”

Unable to stop the smirk from growing on his face, Harry leaned his face on his hand casually, “Feels as good as it sounds. Everything so far has been going my way and I feel at the top of my game, almost as though nothing can go wrong for me.”

Simon frowned now, his expression solemn, “You’re still young. Especially for all that you’ve accomplished in the past couple years… Therefore it’s easy for you to make one mistake that will mess you up permanently—“

“I  _don’t_ make mistakes, sir.” Harry intervened confidently, “Everything I do is carefully calculated and planned out. I don’t allow myself to ever lose. It’s just not possible.”

“Harry, it has come to my attention that you are in possession of the Prince of the United Kingdom.”

The response was quick and not one that Harry even expected. He was swift to cover his surprise and he watched at Simon stilly, “How did you find out?”

“It doesn’t matter. What  _does_ matter is the simple fact that you’re still in the United Kingdom with that royal on your hands.” Simon’s face cringed as he the term ‘royal’ almost as though the word was a pain to speak.

Harry remained stoic, “I understand that, but I already made sure he’d stay within my sight as long as we’re here for the time being. So far on our way here, no one noticed anything suspicious and if anyone notices on our way back, I’ll put an end to them before they can do a thing.” He informed simply with a curt nod.

His words made Simon arch a brow, “Where is he now?”

“In the lavatory.” Harry automatically answered, his voice secure.

“He’s been in there since you came to sit?” Simon further investigated, he sounded on the brink of scoffing,

However, that made Harry stop for a moment to rethink everything for a second.

Louis had been in the toilet before Harry even got to sit down with Simon.

It  _had_ been a bit of a while…

“I’ll be back, excuse me.” Harry muttered quickly as he stood up from his seat. Simon watched up at him dully as he slid a piece of paper onto the table toward Harry before his arms were folding over his chest once more, “No, you won’t be.”

Harry picked up the piece of paper and shoved it into his pocket before he began stalking toward the front of the bar.

As he reached the door, he heard Simon call from behind, “Good-bye, Harry. Give the royal my greetings when you see him.”

“Thanks. I will.” Harry threw back while he kept his power walk ahead.

Already knowing the way to the bathroom, Harry mumbled a quick greeting to Cheryl who was shining one of the glasses with an intrigued look to her face, “Did your friend drink any cleansing medicines before he came here? He’s been in the restroom for a while.”

Harry couldn’t even formulate a response, his feet forcing him forward a little faster with each step ahead as he made it into the hallway that the restroom was located at. When he stopped at the door, he immediately cleared his throat, “Princess, you still in there?”

Silence.

Pressing his ear against the door for any muffled noises that Louis may have been making, Harry pulled away with a grimace,

“Princess?” He questioningly inquired with a knock on the door.

Silence was his sole response.

Harry gave another powerful knock to the door, “Princess, I’m serious. Answer me.”

His hands halted from the rapping to give the prince a chance to be heard properly, however when he received no response, he found himself growing slightly annoyed, “Princess.” He continued sternly, and when he folded his arms over his chest for a few seconds to see if the prince inside would stop being stubborn and  _fucking_ answer him, Harry found his teeth gritting.

“ _Louis_ ,” Harry icily growled out lowly,

Harry felt his eyebrows crease in growing frustration when no sign of the royal turned up once more.

“Louis, open the fucking door or I’m coming in.”

The foreboding feeling in his chest was growing rapidly and Harry clutched the doorknob tightly before giving it a sharp twist to the side. Realizing it was locked, the pirate captain wasted no time in reaching to his side to grab out his pistol and he directed it at the door’s hinges before he pulled the trigger.

Kicking down the wooden frame, Harry rushed himself inside, nothing but irritation lining his facial features as he prepared to unleash a load of disciplinary snarls at the royal, but he stopped.

Louis wasn’t there.

He left…

Louis left him.

Quick to hold back his initial distress, Harry immediately went to work at solving the little mystery.

It was impossible for him to have gone out the front door because the bouncer wouldn’t have let him out without Harry there with him… His eyes shot upward to the single window…

At first glance, a person could say it was impossible to jump out because of its height, however if angled right a person could slide themselves up from the closely compact walls and reach the window without fail. The size of the window along with the fact it was opened was enough to send Harry’s eyes narrowing into slits.

Whirling on his heel with a snarl coming to his lips, the brunet began stalking out the bathroom and hallway,

A game of cat and mouse wasn’t something he was in the mood for at  _all_.

But if Louis was idiotic enough to try and  _escape_ in a country he’d never even been in before but Harry knew like the back of his hand, so be it.

“The things I’ll do to that intractable, disgraceful piece of shit when I find him…”

**Chapter 16,**

When Louis thought of home, many things came to mind.

The halls of the massive palace, always kept sparkling and bright, the large windows down the corridors bringing in a numerous amount of natural light as well as a beautiful view of the rose garden outside to the side of the building.

His lessons for education that he had somewhat dreaded attending with his strict instructor, where he learned more than he felt would be necessary for his ascent to the throne.

Late night escapades with Lottie when the two basically ran around lawlessly in the middle of the night, evading the guards that tried locking them in their rooms in favor of sneaking into the rooms of the other’s rooms and completely messing with them while they slept.

Those special afternoons with Eleanor out in the rose garden when he was able to completely be himself with her over the political mess and pressure his instructor would constantly remind him of.

He remembered at one point he wished that he could still be royalty without the political bullshit that came with it but Eleanor told him not to think so irresponsibly because he was blessed.

Louis panted as he continued his run down the uneven street,

“Watch it!” A man snapped at him angrily after Louis had bumped past him, his run not slowing.

The royal held onto his left arm painfully, his head stuck to the ground, his heart thudding powerfully.

Louis could remember the family dinners he shared with his sisters and parents. He always made jokes that was deemed inappropriate by his father and often got him scolded, but it was all light-hearted unless he took it too far. His siblings laughed as well as his mother a majority of the time.

He could hardly remember the sound of his family’s laugh anymore.

When was the last time he’d seen them? Surely it wasn’t that long, but with everything that had happened to him thus far, it felt like an eternity.

Louis made a sharp turn down around a building and he found himself crashing into a group of women who all shrieked in surprise as he stumbled through them with a grunt. His steps nearly went over and he almost tripped, but he found his balance and continued going.

Louis recalled how upset he had been when he discovered he was being sent to France to study abroad.

His instructor was tough, but the man was one of the best teacher’s a person could have. His parents played good cop bad cop and the moment his father angrily lashed out at him; Louis could only storm off and away, angrily accepting his fate.

His father’s word was law after all.

Being a prince left him grounded to that as well.

All of his sisters had visited his room that night to comfort him on the news. Louis hadn’t been very open to it; he was still moody on the concept of leaving home for France.

Louis tried to halt his steps as a horse rider galloped down the other parallel street, the man on top oblivious to the increasingly tired young man less than a few feet away.

Now that he stopped his run for the first time since he’d left the bar, Louis could feel the power his adrenaline had first given him seeping out of him at last. His lungs were burning but he knew he had to keep going on even if it killed him.

Just as he finished trying to catch his breath, a cold water droplet hit his nose from above, and Louis inwardly cursed at his terrible luck.

His head glanced upward, and then he was reminded of Harry’s hat that had miraculously stayed on his head from his long drafted run.

Another drop of rain fell from the sky and another, the number increasingly swiftly and Louis glanced all about in an effort to find a proper place for shelter from the precipitation that was now on the verge of slamming down much harder.

Louis slid his back against one of the stone buildings on the streets, his hand taking the hat from on top of his head off to hold so his own skull could hit the hard structure behind him. The place of where he had taken the brunt of the fall from the window gave a throb of pain, and Louis winced as his right hand held onto his left arm tightly.

Shutting his blue eyes, he tried to remain positive with everything that had happened thus far.

He was positive he had enough distance between him and Harry… But the more logical side of him condemned him.

He had acted stupidly.

Jumping out the window to escape when he had not the slightest clue on where anything was in the city.

Even if he and Harry were far apart, Harry had the advantage of knowing the city’s layout, not to mention he  _knew_ that Louis didn’t know anything about Ireland, let alone Dublin.

When he had been climbing to the window in the restroom, the only thing that had been in his mind was getting away from Harry… Because that was quite possibly the only time he’d actually be separated from the captain who was distracted.

It had been the perfect opportunity, but in the end… The opportunity didn’t even matter because in the end he was still nothing more but a chess piece on Harry’s game board.

This was all getting too hard.

Louis bit his bottom lip as he slowly glided his back down from the building behind him.

A lightning flash struck overhead and the clap of thunder rumbled not too long after and Louis gave the clouds above a blank look as it appeared like the sky was crying, which he found painfully ironic… If anyone should be crying, it should be him. All the bullshit he’d been forced to put up with for so long was taking its toll on him.

Harry was going to kill him if he got him. That was a known fact.

Louis could only imagine the captain’s rage when he figured out Louis had escaped, because the pirate was smart enough to know a break out… He was a criminal after all.

If Harry got to him, all thoughts of freedom would be gone.

If Louis wanted to get home, right now it was do or die.

Exhaling hugely, the brunet pushed himself up to his feet. The rain above continued falling heavily and Louis glanced down at the hat in his hand thoughtfully. It’d be foolish to leave it where he once was because if Harry somehow passed by later and saw it, he’d have some sort of clue to the direction Louis was moving in.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

That’s where he had to go.

If only he knew the way.

People continued walking down the cobblestoned streets, their umbrellas pulled out as they went on with their day, ignorant to Louis’s plight.

“Excuse me, ma’am… Please, a moment of your time.” Louis’s voice croaked out, his throat was dry from all his running and he hoped he didn’t look like too much of a mess when he stepped out in the street to approach a woman who had been passing by with fruits from the shopping centre in her possession.

She blinked, her umbrella shifting in her hand as she watched Louis cautiously.

“Can you point me in the direction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, please?” He asked tiredly.

The directions given to him were enough to tell Louis that the trip wouldn’t be far as he had feared. He praised whatever force appeared to be on his side as of now.

Earlier, the rain had begun to ease up and halfway through his excursion to the Cathedral it had stopped all together. His only complaint would be the fact that his arm was still aching from his fall. He didn’t think it was too high up to have broken any bones, or at least he hoped it wasn’t…

When he got back to England, he was sure it’d all be fixed up and when he sees the large church building in the distance from his position down the street, he can easily say that the pain in his arm was forgotten.

He had placed Harry’s hat over his head a while back—just because he didn’t want to wet his hair more! That was all!— and at this point when he started running down the thick mucked roadway, he could feel the thing threatening to fall over his eyes once more. He pushed it up, the grin on his face growing as he dawned upon the building.

It was getting closer and closer and with each step he took, he could feel his heart racing upward and excitement nearly reaching its peak.

As he began walking past the dark rusted gates toward the entrance, he felt the joy radiating out of his pores right before he reached the large entry gate. Blinded with glee, the royal reached for the latch to open and enter the church’s property.

His smile disappeared the moment he lifted his head.

“Hey, Louis.”

Louis’s world dimmed to the point of near blackness and he could feel his heart rate beating faster not for the same positive effects as before, but from panic.

“Why?” He questioned out in frustration, his head throwing backward to look into the sky, “ _Why_?”

Liam scowled lightly, his brown eyes plain, “I think that’s my line. I know what happened with you and Harry. I—“

Unable to help himself, Louis grunted, “I don’t care what you have to say, alright? Just don’t even. I’ve had more than enough with you fucking crooks for one lifetime.” He held his right hand up to silence the pirate that cringed.

Louis hadn’t expected this to happen, because  _how_ could it happen?

Had Harry really been able to contact Liam so quickly? How had Liam even known he was going to be here? Was it that obvious?

When he thought about it, it probably was considering the circumstances… But why hadn’t Harry himself come here rather than Liam?

Something wasn’t adding up.

But he still had one obstacle in his way to freedom now and lucky enough for him, it was one of the weakest links of One Direction.

Harry was a fool if he thought someone as nice as Liam would be able to stop him from getting home now.

“I’m so close and I won’t let you ruin this for me, Liam. I know what I did to get away from Harry was bad, but you  _know_ how I’ve been treated. I swear, if you just don’t interfere, I won’t tell them it was you all that had me. I’ll make up some false story about some other kidnappers and the United Kingdom will leave you all well enough alone. I swear, just don’t…” He attempted to reason, if Liam didn’t let him through then there’d be problems to come.

“I’m not going to try and stop you, Louis.” Liam strongly spoke and at that moment, Louis’s eyes grew wide as he watched the First Mate of One Direction sigh, his hands moving into his pockets,

It couldn’t be that easy.

“It’s not that easy.” Louis immediately replied causing Liam to shake his head before speaking, “I understand that you have a huge desire to go home… But I want you to stop and think for a minute.”

Louis licked his chapping lips right before Liam continued, his eyes turning more serious than they had been previously, “Harry is the most deadly pirate to ever sail the seven seas. He’s called the Prince of the Crimson Sea for a reason that’s more morbid than I’d like to say. He’s killed many and for each life he’s taken, I’m more than positive that he hasn’t felt a pinch of remorse… But with you, Louis, when I say that  _you_ actually mean something to him—“

Against the better of him, Louis scoffed, “I  _mean_ something to him?” His hand reached beneath his shirt to pull out his collar’s leash, he waved the rope in the air with a dim glare in Liam’s direction, “You mean the same way a rag doll means to a dog? Because that’s the only thing I’m getting at.”

“I thought you two were getting along better.”

“We shouldn’t have been getting along at all.” Louis countered hotly, “I shouldn’t have been on that ship. I shouldn’t have been kidnapped. I don’t mean anything to Harry except just being another person to play with, and that’s something I  _refuse_ to fit the role of. I’m no one’s play thing, Liam.”

“You say that because of your life from before and because you don’t know Harry. Louis, just hear me out. Harry treats you unlike anyone he has before, okay? He talks about you in a way that prompts our teasing at you. If he didn’t have some sort of fondness for you, don’t you think he would have killed you already?” Liam defended loosely, though Louis’s eyebrows only furrowed.

He didn’t want to stand here and be placed in a debate about why he shouldn’t want to go back to being a prisoner.

It was stupid.

“I’m done with this conversation.” Louis breathed with a shake to his head, he began walking forward, and Liam stood still as the two nearly brushed shoulders. In all honesty, Louis somewhat expected Liam to just grab him while he passed him, but he never did to his relief.

When Louis was about to reach the steps to enter the church he heard Liam regard him politely,

“You have Harry’s hat.”

Louis halted his movements to look back at the pirate who hadn’t turned around from his spot below. Frowning, Louis looked upward at the hat on his head, “Yeah… He gave it to me earlier.” He debated on if he should offer it to Liam to give to Harry, but when too much time passed in between the sentence, he knew it’d be too awkward for him to say.

Liam glanced over his shoulder with a small nod, his face stoic, “I see.”

The royal nodded back before he turned to continue up the steps and right as he dawned upon the door, Liam spoke out once more, his tone exasperated, “Louis, you can’t say I didn’t try to help.”

Confused, Louis arched an eyebrow upward, “Well, good bye to you too.” Shrugging it off, he ran a quick hand through his hair with his eyes turning back to the stain glassed décor that the large door held to enter the cathedral.

He hoped he didn’t look too messed up especially now when he’d be seeing the bishop.

Letting out a calming breath, Louis took a hold of the door handle before he pushed it open.

The door creaked loudly in comparison to the dead silence the place of worship held and Louis’s eyes trailed down the great cathedral in awe. The art work that lined the walls and ceiling were beautiful and he was reminded of the numerous amounts of times he had visited his own church back in England when he had been younger for his siblings’ baptisms.

Walking further in, he kept his neck craned upward at the remarkable paintings; however his expression turned into that of dread the moment his gaze ended up on the stage.

Harry sat on the stage, his legs hanging off of the platform casually as he watched ahead at Louis darkly, “Very coincidental to meet up with you here, Louis.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Everything on Louis’s mind was literally about to spiral out of control.

Why was Harry here!? Liam had already been outside! Why was Harry here!? Why!?

The question throbbed inside of his skull, bouncing off of the walls of his brain too many times for Louis to register and he could feel himself quaking a bit in panic.

This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good  _at all_.

“H-how did you…?” He couldn’t help the slight stutter that entered his speech as he took a step backward,

Harry tilted his head to the side, unlike usual, there was no smirk of arrogance on his face as he looked at Louis, nothing but a firm and tight line of neutrality.

“I would say I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not.” His arms folded over his chest and his lips pulled back into a bit of a snarl, “This is  _my_ game, not yours. In this game, let me tell you; you aren’t even a  _player._ Louis, you are a game piece.” His words came out calmly right as he stood up from his seat.

Harry turned to walk more into the stage, and as he did, Louis found his heart beginning to quiver a bit in fear as he now actually came to terms with seeing a man tied with chain links to the large cross center-piece of the church.

The man had a white gag placed over his mouth, but even so he made no audible mumbles or protests. Instead, his eyes followed Harry’s movements in distinguishable terror.

The pirate captain leaned forward toward the captive male’s ear to whisper something and with Harry’s back turned to him, contemplated turning around and running.

He couldn’t find the feelings in his legs to do so, because now it was like he was dealing with a different Harry.

The same Harry that he had seen on The Rose that night… Except now, Louis was on the receiving end of his fury.

If he stayed, he had a feeling Harry was going to kill him because everything he had done was now falling back into his face. He had escaped and done exactly what Harry hadn’t wanted him to do and now he was getting the backlash.

And as Harry pulled away from speaking to the bishop to turn his attention back to the royal, Louis suddenly found Eleanor’s feelings toward Harry relatable.

**Chapter 17.**

Niall found his ears perking up the moment he heard a knock on the door to his room—well Liam’s room in this case, but it was still his in a way.

Everything was always dull without Zayn or Liam with him. After Harry had kicked him out of the room, he’d gone to his own room to see if he could nap the day away and with some hope, when he woke up Liam and Zayn would be back and they’d finally be leaving this side of Ireland.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case as he had awoken from a nap a while ago. Niall knew they weren’t back because at least one of them would have burst through the door and embraced him and the two would have kissed after so long of being separated and everything would have been fine.

He hated thinking about it because it made him more antsy for them to come back.

The Irishman had kept his gaze up to the ceiling, his boredom peaking up to such heights that he found nearly frustrating but that’s how it always was. He couldn’t risk going into Ireland and having someone recognize him because then problems would arise and he couldn’t have that.

He couldn’t be separated from Liam or Zayn.

A couple hours were hard enough to endure let alone forever.

So when he heard the rap on the door, he actually grew a bit confused.

It was Liam’s room and even he wasn’t polite enough to knock on the door to his own room…

Sitting upward, he watched the entrance curiously, “Come in.” He instructed, he heard a thud happen right outside the walls as the door opened slightly.

“Zayn, please… The room is right in here.” Eleanor scolded tiredly, her elbow pushing the door open to hit the wall behind it.

Niall could only look on in puzzlement as Eleanor with an incredibly hunched back carried Danielle and reached out frantically to grab Zayn’s hand as the ravenette leaned on the wall opposite to the room’s entrance.

Eleanor sighed heavily when it became apparent that Zayn wasn’t moving from his spot any time soon and instead moved her head to gaze back at Niall. Her smile was shy as her legs visibly shook, “I-I’m so sorry for bothering you Niall, but they drank a lot at the bar and I need help, please.” She begged out lowly.

Instantly Niall was at his feet to assist the brunette that was clearly about to topple over with Danielle’s weight on her back. “No problem!” He reassured as he reached out to help Danielle down.

“Niall, I’ll fucking kick your ass,” Danielle slurred out, she made a notion to move her hand from the blonde’s grip as he guided her to Liam’s bed to sit down however her efforts were weak against the male that could only snicker when the curly haired female had trouble sitting upward.

“Eleanor! Eleanor! Where are you?” The female pirate cried, her hands frantically moving around the bed sheets in search of the brunette that rubbed her shoulder with an appreciative smile Niall’s way before he moved to walk outside toward Zayn who was slowly sliding down the wall with a groan.

When he wrapped his arms around the taller male’s sinking waist, Niall leaned downward to give him a swift kiss on the forehead before he began pulling him upward.

Zayn moaned, his eyes fluttering open in a daze, “Niall?” He questioned out sluggishly as Niall started leading him inside of Liam’s room with a degree of difficulty considering how much dead weight the dark haired pirate held.

“Yeah, I’m here, Zayn.” Niall answered back right before he tossed the heavy male on the bed beside Danielle.

Eleanor sighed, she moved to take a seat on the edge of the bed prior to grabbing hold of Danielle’s arms to bring her upward, however as she did so, Danielle surprised her by taking a stronger grip on her wrists and pulling her downward beside her into an embrace with a giggle, “I love you, El!” The curly haired brunette exclaimed.

On the other side of the bed, Zayn was starting to shakily get up to his feet once more. Niall watched him in slightly amusement as Zayn made eye contact with him and gave a huge grin, his arms out stretching as he began to stumble towards him, “Niall!” He lovingly called, his balance going right as Niall reached forward to catch him.

Zayn’s arms constricted around him snuggly and before Niall could say anything; his mouth was filled with the intoxicating scent of heavy alcohol. Zayn pressed his lips onto Niall’s firmly and in a way that immediately signaled to the blonde that Zayn wasn’t  _too_ wasted.

His drunk kisses were sloppier.

Pulling away, Niall attempted to ignore the noises of displeasure that Zayn made as he watched down at Eleanor who was now trying to appease the giggling female on the bed who was playing with her hair.

Niall couldn’t help himself as he shook his head, “They’re drunk.” He stated as a matter of fact. However when Zayn huffed in annoyance and buried his face into the crook of the Irishman’s neck, Niall snorted, “Okay, Danielle’s drunk. Zayn’s tipsy.”

“I am not.” Zayn drawled out defensively, his tone serious before a smile came to his lips, “But you smell so good, Niall.”

Shifting at the sudden feeling of Zayn’s tongue against his neck, Niall winced away from him, “Yes,” Niall reasoned his hand moving to pick up Zayn’s head from his neck.

Zayn scowled at him while Niall sighed, “You’re drunk or at least pretty damn close to it, so don’t even think about doing any of that.”

“You’re beautiful, Eleanor.” Danielle blissfully remarked while resting her forehead on the girl’s shoulder, “I really like you. I hope you like me back. Do you like me back?”

With a flustered smile, Eleanor patted the pirate’s hair down, “Ask me when you’re not drunk and I’ll tell you my answer.”

Blowing out a puff of air, Danielle frowned, “I wanna know now!” She whined out childishly before something suddenly crossed Niall’s mind.

“Where’s Liam?” He questioned with furrowed brows in Eleanor’s direction.

“Huh? Oh, when we were in the bar Harry had come in for him and they left together. That’s when these two started drinking like crazy because Liam wasn’t there to stop them.” Eleanor truthfully remarked with a sigh,

Niall blinked his eyes, “Do you know if he already came back on the ship?”

Nodding her head, Eleanor watched at Niall curiously, “I think so, because they were pulling up the bridge after we came on since we were the last ones.”

Flashing her a quick thumbs up in gratitude for her help, Niall took a firmer grip on Zayn before maneuvering for the taller male to get on his back. Zayn complied, now mumbling incoherent sentences about how he needed Niall now.

The blonde chose to ignore him, and instead began making his way out of the lower decks to the top.

He reached a certain degree of complication when he made it to the stairs and during his struggle upward with Zayn on his back, he found himself trying hard to ignore the rambling that Zayn was now putting right into his ear.

“Niall, you are so cute. Niall, you love me just as much as you love Liam right? You two love me equally right? Because I love you both equally. I love you both a lot. Let’s go to bed together, I want you. I love you, Niall.”

Sighing as he kicked open the door for them to finally get outside on deck, Niall glanced back at the drowsy male, “I love you too, Zayn.”

“Good, because I’d be sad if you didn’t. I love Liam too. Does Liam love me?” His words were garbled and Niall had trouble understanding it for the most part.

With a shake to his head, he found himself grinning the moment he saw Liam speaking to one of the crew leisurely.

Moving one of his hands from supporting Zayn’s leg, Niall cupped it over his mouth, “Liam!” The blonde shouted over to the brunet that immediately paused from his conversation to look up in the way he had been called from.

The moment he saw Niall, Liam returned the beam with a nod before he turned back to the male in front of him. Seemingly excusing himself from the talk, he bid the other good bye prior to walking toward both Niall and Zayn.

Niall greeted the brunet with an instant peck on the lips, a motion that made Zayn grumble.

Snickering, Niall watched Liam’s eyes narrow in on the dark haired pirate on his back, “Is he drunk?”

“He’s tipsy.” The former noble confirmed with a nod and Liam groaned with a roll to his eyes, “I told him not to drink so much. No kiss for you now.”

“I’m  _not_ tipsy. So I think I deserve a kiss too.”

“You can hardly walk without toppling over.” Niall countered and Zayn only plopped his head back down onto the blonde’s shoulder with a moan,

Taking the attention away from him, Niall smiled at Liam expectantly, “How was Dublin?”

The question didn’t appear to surprise Liam in the slightest as the brunet fitted his hands into his pockets with a blow of his breath. His brown eyes gazed off while he opened his mouth to reply, “Well, I guess you can say it wasn’t what I expected with Louis’s attempted escape and all.”

“What!?” Zayn snarled out, his head rising up from Niall’s shoulder furiously.

Instantly Niall’s jaw dropped.

He remembered Harry telling him that he was taking Louis off of the ship with him after he had been kicked out the room when Harry assaulted the prince.

“You’re shitting me.” Niall remarked in disbelief.

That had to be Liam’s idea of a joke because Louis couldn’t possibly have enough balls in him to try and escape when  _Harry_ himself was there guiding him throughout Ireland.

“No, I am not.” The First Mate of One Direction confirmed with a heavy sigh, “Apparently, when Harry was speaking to Captain Cowell, Louis made a run for it from the restroom… When Harry found out, he came to me to help.”

“That’s fucking crazy! Oh my God, Louis, that was a dumbass move!” Niall hissed out with a smack to his forehead. Zayn’s grip on the Irish native’s shoulders tightened as he glared at Liam angrily, “Did Harry kill the little shit for trying to get away or what?”

Liam scowled at Zayn disapprovingly, “Well, I think Harry would have done something he would have regretted if he had faced Louis alone… I think he himself knew that, and that’s why he came to me to help out. I told him to give Louis a chance for a lighter punishment if I could make him see reason. And even after I tried talking to him, Louis brushed me off and now he’s Harry’s to deal with I guess.” He held his hands up in defense, “I wanted to help.”

Awkwardly, Niall bit his bottom lip, “So… What’s going to happen to Louis now?”

When Liam shrugged his shoulders Niall found himself wincing. He didn’t even want to imagine…

“Why do you two only care about Louis?” Zayn stubbornly inquired, “What about Harry? Have either of you even thought about him over Louis for once?”

Niall rolled his eyes as he looked back at the scowling pirate on his back, “I’d worry about Harry if his life was in danger.”

“Which is never.” Liam nodded his head in agreement, however that only made Zayn’s facial expression darken,

“Forget about how this affects any of them physically. Neither of you have considered how this must be hurting Harry emotionally, have you?”

His words were greeted with silence from both Liam and Niall who could only move their gazes from Zayn to one another shamefully.

After a few moments, Liam cleared his throat, “Zayn, you’re going to have a headache when you wake up tomorrow, I think you need to start getting some rest now.”

“I’m  _not_ drunk.”

“We know. You’re tipsy.” Niall instantly corrected as the three began walking back downstairs.

-

Louis found his mind slowly stirring into consciousness from the still and black sleep he’d been placed in.

Before he even had a chance to fully rise and get his brain functioning properly, a sharp pain executed down below at his groin area that made his eyes snap open in pain, but to his shock, his sight was met with darkness.

Feeling an apparent fabric over his way of sight, Louis prepared to move his hands to take off whatever blindfold was stopping him from seeing, but as he did so, he found his alarm growing even more. His wrists were bound by what he assumed to be rope and they were pulled in a way that left him unable to use either of his hands. It was obvious by the material beneath him that he laying on a bed and Louis couldn’t help but squirm as he pulled at the ropes in hopes his hands would become free.

It was a fruitless effort and he wasn’t too discouraged when he received no results.

Already knowing he’d have to think everything through properly before he started having a panic attack of this rather unusual situation, Louis immediately tried to steady his breathing, in the process he found that another thick cloth-like material was pulled over his mouth and tied behind his head.

He had to think back—

His train of thought was abruptly put to a halt as his hardened cock was grabbed firmly along with a creak to the mattress where his feet were.

“Rise and shine, Princess.”

All at once, Louis found his brain reeling in all the events that had taken place before he had awoken.

His escape. His brief encounter with Liam. Then his meeting with Harry inside of the church.

Harry had hopped off the stage and he had said things, but Louis could hardly remember because as the captain approached him he could only recall the idea of impending death looming on him once again.

He’d tried to escape and now he was getting the aftermath.

Louis couldn’t even remember when Harry knocked him out… But it made sense because at the time before the only thing on his mind had been the fact he was going to die.

“I hope you had a good rest.” Harry’s voice hissed out, and despite how calm he sounded, Louis could hear the malice undertones all too clearly. Harry’s thumb gave Louis’s shaft a deep rub that made the prince wince. That one motion was enough to bring to Louis’s attention that he was completely naked.

His heart began to speed up as he came to terms with his current situation.

Right now, he was strapped down to a bed naked, his eyes blindfolded, legs and hands restrained, and mouth gagged with Harry practically hanging over him. Harry, who was more than likely, still  _pissed_ at him for trying to get away.

Louis wasn’t sure how he was supposed to coop with this.

“Why are you making that face?” Harry’s hand gripped Louis’s erect penis tighter, and Louis found his teeth clenching painfully, “The nervous look doesn’t suit you.” His voice was mocking, not in the usual way that Harry tended to mock him.

As much as it pained Louis to think of it, it was more morbid.

He tried to push pass the sinking feeling making its way to his stomach as he attempted to squirm out of Harry’s grip, his exposed and held penis still being held solidly by the pirate captain that Louis could feel was now beginning to fully get onto the bed.

Before Louis had any chance to prepare himself, Harry’s body was on top of his like a lion pouncing on its prey. He tried to flinch away, but it was useless as Harry’s lips were aggressively at work at his bare collarbone.

His mouth sucked at it hard and Louis found a lightning wave of pleasure shooting up his spine the instant both of Harry’s hands were at his cock once more, however this time his hold wasn’t uncomfortable, instead it was firm.

Harry moved his head closer to Louis’s ear and the prince shivered at the feeling of the male’s heated breath over his cold skin, “Listen if you don’t want to make this harder on yourself.” At this point, Louis could feel Harry’s own erection bulging out of the male’s own pants and pressing onto his own body, because from the feeling of it Harry was still fully clothed.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard, Louis Tomlinson. I’m going to take you without any mercy no matter how much it hurts you.” Harry gruffly whispered, “But the thing is, you aren’t allowed to come. If you do, I can tell you now that this won’t end well.”

Louis’s fists clenched as he felt Harry maneuver himself more properly over him before he was speaking up once more, “I’m going to fuck you so senseless, Tomlinson.”

Harry’s member slammed into him with so much force that Louis’s head gave a heavy bounce on the mattress. The action was so sudden and strong that the brunet struggled to recover from the violent thrust.

Within the cloth, he bit down hard, his throat holding back the moan that wouldn’t have been able to leave his lips anyways from the aggressive and painfully pleasuring motions of Harry’s cock.

One of Harry’s hands came to touch Louis’s face as he continued his quick and powerful pulls in and out of Louis. Still unable to see, Louis could only helplessly look up, his body beginning to get warped up in strange mix of ecstasy and agony from the repeated slams that Harry inflicted on him.

Louis’s hands clenched into fists so tightly overhead that he could feel his nails digging into his palms, no doubt close to breaking his roughening skin.

Harry’s motions remained in a set motion, one that made Louis’s body threaten to collapse.

A cold metal piece from Harry’s jacket grazed over his heated chest, and Louis gave a shudder, his mouth muffling back his moans due to the gag placed on his face.

His limit was nearly peaking and he withered into the mattress while Harry continuously pounded into him.

“Don’t you dare even think about it.” Harry snapped out angrily, instantly reminding the prince that he couldn’t come.

Not if he wanted to be reminded of Harry’s anger on him.

At this point, for a split second he wished the gag was gone. He would have been able to talk some sort of sense into Harry to inform him of how ridiculous this was. But Louis’s mind was already off from that just as quickly as it came to it.

Harry’s rhythmic thrusts were getting Louis close to the edge now.

Helpless, Louis squirmed into the mattress, unable to tell the pirate captain that he needed to let all go. Harry apparently noticed his body movements and spoke, “You can’t come yet.” Harry gruffly ordered, “No.” With his final word he gave an extra hard push into Louis that made the prince’s toes curl and his eyes to shut with a moan into his gag.

He wished he could let Harry see his eyes to know how much this was hurting him. He couldn’t keep it in any longer—

“You’re pathetic.” Harry hissed lowly, his thrusts were losing intensity and Louis found his body beginning to quake, his penis begging him for release. “You want to come? Okay, tell me.”

Louis found himself squinting at the sudden vision he was given as Harry reached to pull up the blindfold from his eyes.

True to what he had felt before, Harry had his clothes from earlier still on, his pirate hat included. He watched down at Louis with narrowed eyes before he moved to lower the cloth that was within his mouth, “Who do you belong to, Louis?”

Louis’s body shook painfully, his eyes darting away from Harry’s face that was lowering down closer to his and the only thing that was on his mind was letting go of the load that was still in his body.

“Y-you.” He managed to say coarsely after Harry gave a quick thrust within him once more.

“Who am I?” Harry immediately questioned, his voice loud after he slammed into Louis’s body once more, causing the royal to moan out properly for the first time, “F-fucking christ, Harry, I can’t—“

With darkening eyes, Harry pounded his dick inside of Louis again, his tone more forceful than before as though he were controlling his growing temper, “Who  _am I?”_

“H-Harry S-S-Styles!” Louis strained out. He didn’t know if he could keep it in any longer.

“Say it all together now.” The pirate captain of One Direction commanded, his voice nearly purring as he moved down to Louis’s ear, “Say it all together and you can come. Say it  _loud_.”

“I belong to Harry Styles!” Louis exclaimed as loudly as his lungs could allow him, and at that moment, Harry pulled out of him and Louis instantly took this as permission to finally release what he’d been denied.

His body trembled, eyes shut and fists clenched tightly as a quick stream of white erupted out of him and onto Harry’s own attire.

Panting, Louis found his body relaxing on the bed breathlessly.

However, before he could even make a full recovery from the experience, his eyesight was cut off once more as Harry slipped the blindfold over his eyes again.

“Hey!” Louis tried to protest, his tone winded.

He almost expected Harry to replace the gag into his mouth, but instead he found himself wincing as Harry gave an unexpected thrust into him as before. This time, the thrusts in and out were faster in a way that Louis was barely able to keep up with, and just as quickly as Harry started Louis could feel his body being filled warmly with the male’s own liquid.

The sensation instantly bringing about a second tingle in Louis’s groin that he prayed went unnoticed by Harry as he pulled out of Louis again, panting softly.

Louis stayed there on his back, still trying to catch his breath as he listened and waited for Harry’s next move.

A part of him expected one of Harry’s cheeky comments. Another expected him to go on with a possessive comment aimed at how ‘Louis belonged to him’ and if he ran away again, the consequences would be worse…

But he got nothing.

Just Harry’s huffs for a steady breath that eventually became silence.

Several moments into the silence, Louis debated on if he should speak up, but before he could, Harry was raising up from the bed.

Again, Louis expected him to regard him in some way, say something to him like he normally would, but Harry’s footsteps only echoed in his ears toward the door where Louis heard it open before closing as though harry had never even been in the room.

Confused, Louis prepared to get up, but then it dawned upon him that he was still restrained to the bed. Eyebrows furrowing behind the blindfold, he pulled at the ropes with a grunt.

He had a feeling Harry wasn’t coming back any time soon.

**  
Chapter 18.**

Confirming Louis’s suspicions, Harry never did come back inside of the room within a reasonable time limit.

He had somewhat expected it and when he turned out right, it didn’t really effect him hard. Knowing Harry, before Louis went to bed, he’d probably come back in and taunt him and get the binds off of his limbs, and everything would be back to the way it was.

Part of him predicted Harry to be back in a little bit after the ship left the docks of Ireland, which he assumed would be not too long later.

For some reason, when the ship actually started moving, Louis could say he felt a piece of himself die away… Perhaps because that had been his one shot at freedom and it had been completely obliterated by Harry’s persistence?

The boat gave never ending rocks that normally would go unnoticed, but with his eyes still covered and his senses going upward in response, Louis could feel himself getting seasick. But at that point, he wasn’t sure if it was seasickness or just the pain of the fact that now he never going home again.

At that point, Harry still hadn’t come in.

Louis had started pushing back in panic that told him Harry was  _actually_ going to leave him stuck like the way he was for the night.

Harry was crazy, but he already got his revenge, didn’t he?

He wasn’t going to leave Louis like that.

With darkness as the only thing he could see, Louis relied on his own instinct to determine what time it was and how much time had passed on earlier. Even with that, when he started to grow lightheaded with fatigue, he knew it was late outside.

The rational part of him spoke.

Harry wasn’t going to come back.

The royal accepted the fact with bitterness… But one thing he couldn’t seem to get entirely was how he was supposed to  _sleep_ the way he was.

He was still naked and dirty. His own skin felt disgusting and his arm had seemingly decided it was a good time to remind Louis that it was still sore and it began aching him for the whole night.

Louis pushed it all back.

He was strong and this was probably Harry’s way of making him suffer. He could endure it for one night.

After a completely restless night, when Louis woke up it felt as though he hardly got any sleep. It got worse when he realized the blindfold was still there, he was still restrained, and his arm still throbbed in light pain.

Harry didn’t come back at all and Louis spent the whole day just lying in bed, helpless to do anything.

He was hungry and combined with the sensitivity to the nausea-inducing boat rocks; his stomach was beginning to bother him.

When his body began to signal it was growing sleepy for the night once more, Louis found a part of him hoping that Harry would be back to let him go in the morning.

His hope was firmly crushed by daybreak when he woke up again to the same familiar darkness and frightening silence of the room. He knew he couldn’t possibly be dead because of the consistent movements of One Direction he felt. Louis’s stomach growled continuously and he tried to forget his hungry by drifting his attention to something else…

Louis thought of home. He thought of how it would be back in the palace once again. The light daydreams kept his sanity firm even if it was bittersweet when he managed to come back in touch with reality.

A part of him had a feeling that Harry would have been back by the next morning…

That fraction of him couldn’t have been any more wrong. Louis had woken up with no significant difference in him except now the grumbles in his stomach was more like a deprived pain and his throat was now beginning to go to a rather irritating dryness.

When it felt like the day was taking forever to roll by and there was no sign of life entering the room, Louis found himself beginning to panic. Harry wasn’t honestly thinking of keeping him in here for so long was he?

Three days without human contact and being in such an uncomfortable position would drive him _mad_. Not to mention, he could feel this throat literally about to crack from the lack of water. This was crazy.

He contemplated screaming for help, because it was obvious Harry wasn’t going to come in for him, but if he was lucky someone like Liam or Niall would… But when he thought that over, it was foolish to think that. Liam wouldn’t help him. Not only that, Liam more than likely already told Niall about the situation, and Niall probably pitied Louis for his decision.

He was alone with this.

Harry was really putting him through this…

And sad part would have been that Louis could imagine Harry literally just leaving him to rot.

This was a part of Harry’s punishment, obviously.

Was it death or an effort to break him was what had Louis a bit on the frantic side.

How humiliating. Of all the ends, he’d die tied to the bed of a criminal’s bed, naked, and dirty. It was pathetic.

After he attempted to calm his breathing and just relax, Louis tried to focus on keeping his thoughts strong because if he was going to die there like that, he’d make sure Harry knew he wouldn’t be broken so easily.

He refused to be degraded by this no matter the outcome.

That night he went to bed feeling sorer than he ever had, not that it had surprised him.

Waking up the next morning was bleak. Nothing changed. He was still cold and alone. Even his thoughts of reuniting with his family left a bitter taste in his mouth, which was incredibly depressing considering the fact that this was going to be his fourth night without water.

His teacher once told him a human can only go so many days without water before the long winded death by dehydration took over… And from what Louis remembered, the process  _wasn’t_ pretty.

This was all he was getting for trying to escape.

If he had waited, maybe another opportunity would have arisen… If he hadn’t gone straight to the Cathedral, maybe if he had gone the next day when Harry would have  _left_ Ireland he wouldn’t be here.

So many what ifs…

And now, Louis suddenly found himself fit into a déjà vu situation with his first time being on the ship when he was almost positive he was going to die. Back then, he had prayed that the pirate captain not come to his room any time soon so he could live.

Ironically, now all he  _wanted_ was for the pirate to come to his room so he could live.

Fate had a morbid sense of humor.

The sound of the door opening literally made Louis jump in surprise from his spot within the bed. Creaking loudly to his ears, the royal felt his eyes widen beneath his blindfold as his breathing instantly hitched.

Louis’s heart and eyes dulled considerably with relief the moment he heard the familiar noise of those brown pirate boots stepping along the wooden boards of the room away from the door and toward the bed. Silently, Louis licked his dry lips, his mouth practically cracking itself, a fact he found rather sad.

At least now with Harry back, everything could just get better.

“Tell me,” Harry’s voice solemnly broke the four-day long silence that had plagued the room and for once, Louis found a part of him entirely grateful to hear the pirate captain’s voice especially after so long. He knew he wanted to do nothing but curse and scream at Harry for  _really_ leaving him in that situation, but he had to be smart about this.

Harry’s steps stopped by where Louis assumed to be right in front of the bed. “How does it feel to be abandoned?”

His tone wasn’t mocking in the least… In fact it was quite serious to the point where Louis’s eyebrows nearly furrowed in confusion, but he brushed it off… Harry had  _four_ days to cool off. He couldn’t possibly still be mad—

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Louis sarcastically retorted, his own voice almost seeming like a stranger to him with how hoarse it came out.

He needed water and fast.

Harry appeared to disregard that, “I’ll tell you a fun fact,” Louis nearly jolted at the feeling of Harry’s hand reaching downward to touch his right foot. The male’s hands were rough but he worked quickly to untie the knot that kept that foot bound to the bed.

Louis found instant relief as Harry moved to the other foot, “You managed to run away from me for four hours.” At the end of his words, Louis’s left foot was free.

While Harry began walking closer to his head, Louis shivered when he felt the captain lean over him to reach for his right hand, “I don’t tolerate treason.”

With his right hand free, Louis immediately lowered it with a breath of liberation. He turned back into Harry’s words curiously after the captain managed to undo his left hand’s binds.

“I gave you what over double what you wanted. You wanted four hours away from me, that’s fine with me. I just gave you four days away from me. I’m sure you’re satisfied now.”

As the pirate captain’s words began to register in his head, Louis found himself speechless.

Harry hands made their way behind Louis’s head where he began to untie the blindfold.

Déjà vu struck him once more as he stared ahead at Harry’s young face; all those imperfections he had seen that one morning were practically nonexistent within the dimly lit room as he was dully watched back.

Neither broke eye contact before Harry tsked, his cold green eyes emotionlessly staring into Louis’s own blue irises, “You have no answer for me? I assume you aren’t satisfied. Perhaps you’d like another four days away?”

“No! No! I just…” After his sudden jerk upward, Louis found his lungs contracting. Painfully, he doubled over, his hand flying to his mouth as he began to cough.

Harry made no remark on that as he rose off of the bed, “Put some clothes on and then come to dinner.” He commanded simply, not too sooner had he done so did Louis hear the door opening and closing once again.

His coughing fit finishing shortly after, Louis groggily held his head which he could feel beginning to ache slightly. His body trembled as he attempted to move toward the edge of the bed where he saw his old pirate clothes that Harry had let him borrow to enter Ireland.

Slowly, he leaned down to pick it up, his body feeling weaker than he ever experienced.

He dressed himself, attempting to be as steady as he could seeing as his body was frailer than he thought it would be once he got free.

After stumbling on his feet for the first several steps toward the door, Louis finally found balance in himself. His whole walk on deck had to have been incredibly freeing because he got to smell fresh air for the first time in days.

The ship was still moving and it was dark out, the sky above was actually clear and the moon overhead served its purpose for a small source of light.

Louis entered the dining room with as much poise as he could muster though he could only imagine how much he looked like shit.

Everyone seemingly turned to him and gave him regarding nods before going back to their own conversations.

Near the end of the table in their usual seats, Harry was speaking to Liam about something whereas everyone else was filed out next to him. Harry halted his talk to glance over at Louis when he came in stonily along with Zayn, Danielle, Eleanor, Liam, and Niall.

Eleanor’s expression immediately brightened up a great deal as she offered him a huge smile from under her hair.

Louis felt his lips tug into a smile in return, though the silence from the normally loud bunch unsettled him a bit. He attempted to ignore the stares as he walked toward the rather serious looking pirate crew.

“Louis!”

It seemed as though Niall was the only one who wasn’t affected by the awkward atmosphere.

The blonde Irishman disregarded the grave faces of those around him and waved excitedly at Louis, a grin plastered on his face before Zayn grabbed his hand and slowly lowered it with a shake to his head. When Niall pouted, Zayn moved over to whisper something in his ear that immediately made the male laugh and push the dark haired pirate in the shoulder playfully.

Louis ran a hand through his hair, his eyes scanning over the area swiftly.

To his surprise, there were no empty seats beside Harry. Which was strange… Louis  _always_ sat next to him. It was like Harry always kept an extra seat reserved for him or something. But now… The only empty seat was next to Eleanor.

That was perfect since Louis had to ask her for some bandages for his arm and get something for the cough he had.

He could feel Harry’s eyes following him as he walked down the aisle toward the end of the table. Not giving the pirate captain a glance, he pulled out the seat next to Eleanor with a smile the brunette’s way as she turned away from Danielle with a happy beam.

Danielle gave Louis a half-smile to his surprise while she and Eleanor held hands gently.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Eleanor mumbled lowly to him, her body moving towards his gradually.

Louis weakly nodded, “Yeah, I am too. But hey, do you—“

“I advise you to get up right now.”

Harry’s strong voice wavered over the entire dinner table and all conversations came to a stop as silence fell over the room abruptly.

Already knowing who it was directed to, Louis bit his bottom lip, his head raising up to watch ahead at Harry who was watching him boredly,

The Harry Styles that he had grown accustomed to was still gone and Captain Styles that he absolutely _loathed_ but had a rather strange interest in… Was still here.

“Excuse me?” Louis questioned with a hand gesture toward his chest with an arched brow,

Harry’s arms folded over his chest, “Get up. You’re not sitting there.”

Louis could feel the mass of eyes within the room turn toward him in order to see him rise. But even if Louis literally  _just_ came out from a punishment from Harry’s fury that he was still feeling the effects of, he couldn’t help but feel a large amount of irritation enter him.

This man  _just_ put him through hell. Why the hell was he still bothering him now!?

It was annoying!

Gritting his teeth, Louis glowered at him, “I don’t see that the problem is. There are no more seats and…” Louis slowed his words as from the corner of his eye he saw Liam shaking his head, his expression clearly telling the royal to just stop.

Eleanor’s hand touched his, and Louis gave her a quick glance.

“Drop it, Louis… It’s not worth it. Just go along.” She whispered out with a frown.

Louis’s lips pursed in disbelief as he turned his eyes back to Harry who sat with his eyes darkly watching Louis for his next move.

Sighing heavily, Louis picked up the glass from the table as he stood up. Gulping down the water as quickly as he could, he put the cup down before turning to Harry expectantly, “There are no more seats so I don’t know where you want me to go.”

“I’ll give you a choice.” Harry stated out simply, his index and middle finger rising upward amid the quiet within the room. “One, you can either pick to sit on my lap,”

Louis’s face cringed into that of disgust almost instantly and he had to catch himself from shouting out, ‘No!’

“Or two, you can sit on the floor. Either option is open for you.” Harry shrugged as he lowered his hands plainly.

Unable to help himself, Louis grunted, “May I ask why this seat isn’t an option?”

Harry tilted his head to the side, “You can ask, but I won’t answer you. Now hurry up and take your pick for a seat or else I’ll just assume you aren’t hungry. Which I would find weird, I mean going so many nights without proper food would  _really_ take its toll on someone.”

Clenching his fists, Louis knew he was already treading in dangerous water especially with what just happened, but he had enough.

“You know what!? Fuck this! I’m not hungry! I can’t deal with your shitty pompous, inconsiderate attitude and I’d rather starve to death than put up with it anymore! Okay, yeah, I tried to escape but can you fucking blame me?! Look at how you’re treating me! I don’t give a single damn if you’re Prince of the Seven Seas and if I’m a ‘game piece’ to you! If this is the way I’ll be treated as long as I’m on here, I’ll just go jump overboard and end my suffering now!”

Whirling on his heel with an exasperated breath, Louis proceeded to stomp out of the dining room.

Hearing his words instantly sent a shock up Eleanor’s spine as she found herself rising to her feet at the same time as Harry.

Eyes wide, she turned to look at the pirate captain who had his eyes staring off in the direction Louis had just exited.

“Louis!” Harry shouted after him, preparing to walk out, but before he could Liam’s hand was grabbing his arm.

“Niall, go make sure he doesn’t do something crazy.” Liam quickly instructed to the blonde that hopped out of his seat and was rushing to the door. Eleanor bit her bottom lip as she gave Liam an urgent look, “Don’t worry; he won’t!” She nodded to the brunet that already had his attention on the curly haired pirate that was attempting to shrug off his hold,

“Let go of me right now, Liam.” The pirate captain commanded sternly, his eyes still on the door as Eleanor and Danielle found themselves rushing out. Before they left, they could hear Liam calling over Zayn to help sit Harry down to cool off first.

Eleanor glanced over at Danielle as they walked out onto the open air of the deck.

The curly haired female gave her a concerned look, “He won’t really try to jump—“

“No,” Eleanor instantly answered, her eyes scanning around in the dark in search of the royal, “He was being overly dramatic. Louis’s too proud to commit like that…” She wisely informed before she smiled triumphantly at spotting both Niall and Louis at the edge of the boat, farther down the ship’s deck near the mass.

Taking Danielle’s hand more firmly in her own she began to jog toward them.

“Niall, no!” Louis snapped to the blonde right as both Eleanor and Danielle bounded up to them. Louis’s eyebrows furrowed and he glanced in the direction they had come from in hopes Harry wasn’t coming. When he saw no sign of the taller male, he let out a tired sigh.

Niall frowned heavily, “Louis—“

“I said, no!”

“What’s the princess whining about now?” Danielle dryly inquired toward him with a judging glance over his body.

Louis scowled, “Mind your own damn business, Danielle.”

“Feisty.”

“Can you fuck off?” Louis groaned, his head falling into his hands after he leaned his elbows on the ledge to overlook the dark sea, “I’m fucking sick and tired of this! I’m sick and tired of all you damn pirates! I’m sick and tired of this damn ship! I’m sick and tired of everything! It isn’t fucking fair!”

Eleanor folded her arms over her chest as she moved to stand beside the brunet, “Talk to me, Lou…”

The prince’s head hung, “I don’t even want to do that. I feel so sick right now. My throat burns, my stomach feels like an elephant’s been sitting on it for days, my arm hurts, and now I’m getting a headache. I really fucking hate everything right now.”

“Harry’s punishment must have been harsh on you then…” Niall remarked, coming up to Louis’s other side.

Louis scowled as he turned to glare at the Irishman, “Don’t even bring up that little shit’s name in front of me, okay!? I can’t fucking stand him! It’s his fucking fault that I’m here and—“ Louis halted his words, a thought striking him in the middle of his rant.

The tiny fact that it wasn’t Harry’s fault he was here struck.

It was his family’s fault.

“And… I just want to go home, alright? I don’t want this. Any of this…” He longingly breathed out, his eyes lowering sullenly.

He felt like a caged bird. Nowhere to go but around the small confiding walls around him.

Niall gave him a comforting pat on the back, and Louis couldn’t even find it in him to give the male any positive sign of recognition. Even if Niall was only trying to help, it didn’t ease any of the pain of troubles that were finally toppling over him.

Even Eleanor couldn’t seem to find any sort of words for him.

“Um, no offense, but you sound really pathetic right now.” Danielle boldly spoke up, causing Louis, Eleanor, and Niall to turn and face her.

The female had her arms crossed over her chest with a challenging brow upward, “You think you have it hard? I’m sorry to burst your bubble, Princess but  _no_.” She held up a finger and shook her head, “First of all, I know you want to go home but I hope you’re willing to go  _without_ Eleanor.”

Louis’s eyebrows furrowed in questioning to that, but before he could remark, Eleanor pitched in with a nervous laugh, “Yeah, I’m sorry Louis but…” She moved over beside Danielle with a shy smile while wrapping her arm around the curly haired female’s waist, Danielle smiled back sweetly before slinging her arm around the brunette’s shoulder and kissing her on the cheek, “Danielle and I are…”

“Smoking hot lesbians.” Niall finished out with a grin.

Danielle rolled her eyes and Eleanor laughed, “Let’s go with that.”

Louis smacked his forehead, “ _Eleanor_ , I can’t—“

“Get real, Tomlinson.” Danielle interrupted, “You  _aren’t_ getting off of this ship. Get the idea of it out of your head now to make things easier on you later. I’m not trying to be mean and I’m sure as hell not trying to be nice, but if you kept your eyes opened like Eleanor has and Niall had when he was new to all the crazy shit that happens that you have no control over, I’m positive you’d be fitting into One Direction as easy as Liam’s dick fits into Niall’s arsehole.”

“Hey!”

“Okay, so maybe Liam’s dick doesn’t fit that easy in there, but you get my point.” Danielle shrugged, her tongue sticking out at Niall briefly as the Irishman pursed his lips in disapproval, “Anyways, my word of advice to you,  _stop_ being upset at  _everything_. Be  _happy_ you’re alive. And just  _go_ with the flow even if the current is a little rough. If you keep up with your mentality of ‘Oh my god, I miss my wondrous castle with my pony horses and fancy designer dresses and make up!’ you’re going to be killed by Harry one day. He’s literally been on the fucking edge for the last few days and for you to just speak up like that, if Liam didn’t hold him back I don’t know what would have happened to you honestly.”

Danielle slipped her hands into her pockets while tilting on her heels.

Niall watched her in amazement, “Okay, that’s a  _way_ better pep-talk than what I was going to tell him.”

Curiously, Eleanor watched him, “What were you going to say?”

“Eat and you’ll feel better.”

“Niall.”

“What!? It works for me!” He held his hands up in defensive prior to Louis letting out a massive breath; his eyes glancing off ward awkwardly, “Okay, so at this point I’m guessing my life as a captive is permanent…”

Niall shook the royal’s shoulder, “Which is good! More time for you to spend having fun with Zayn, Liam, and I!”

The sole female pirate’s face grimaced, “I can’t be the only one thinking that in a dirty way.”

Ignoring her, Louis sighed, “Alright. I’ll try to take your advice, Danielle… Thanks.”

The brunette flashed a thumbs up as Eleanor smiled hugely before giving the female a kiss on the cheek, “Danielle’s a genius! I’m glad you’re feeling better Lou! Just keep your chin up! Also, come to my room any time and I’ll work on something for your pain, okay?”

“So now… Only one thing is left.” Niall remarked, his hand slipping over Louis’s shoulder before he began walking back in the direction of the dining room with a grin. “You and Harry need to kiss and make up!”

Louis found his face cringing slightly, “I don’t think I want to go back in there right now…”

Niall snickered, “It’ll be fine. I’m sure Zayn and Liam calmed him down.”

“Niall?”

“Yeah?”

“Danielle said he was going to  _kill_ me.”

“Nah, I’m sure he won’t.” Niall reassured simply, his steps not faltering as Louis allowed himself to be led in the direction of the dining room once more.

When they entered, Louis couldn’t say he was surprised to see the room basically empty aside from Harry, Liam, and Zayn, all three near Harry’s seat where the pirate captain sat with his arms crossed over his chest, a huge child-like pout over his face as Zayn and Liam stood at both of his sides like what appeared to be scolding parents.

The sight was nearly laughable to be honest.

The facial expression that Harry wore reminded Louis of the old Harry he was used to.

Hearing the door open, the three turned to look upward and the moment Louis made eye contact with Harry he found himself grunting when the male’s eyes flashed with a rather undetectable emotion.

“Louis is here! Liam, Zayn, come on! Let them kiss and make up!” Niall exclaimed after pushing Louis forward into the room, he grabbed both Liam and Zayn’s hands before nodding at Louis confidently.

“Slow down, Niall!” Zayn hissed out, he didn’t spare Louis a single glance as Niall pulled him out, however Liam did gaze over at him and shot him a reassuring smile that somewhat gave the impending sense of doom in Louis’s stomach some wash away.

Taking a breath, Louis turned his attention toward Harry as self-assured as he could.

He tried not to think that this man was on the brink of killing him earlier.

He tried not to think that Danielle may have been right in saying Harry would have done something regrettable to him.

He tried to remember him as the Harry from before.

The annoying, asshole one…

The one he actually missed right now.

Because now, it actually struck Louis that he was stuck in a room with a ruthless killer.

“Don’t even bother saying anything.” Harry stoically stated as he stood to his feet, all traces of that child-like demeanor gone from his facial expression while his more serious and matured look came into place. He began walking toward the door where Louis stood,

“Not even an ‘I’m sorry’?” Louis dryly tried out, his hand extending outward to stop Harry’s movements toward the exit.

His feet stopped and his eyes glazed over Louis before he snorted, “You’d be wasting your breath and wasting my time. We both know you’re not sorry.”

“Harry—“

“If I remember right, we had this conversation before. About lies and how I don’t want you to do it to me?” Harry inquired, “I don’t feel like having it again. So move your arm.”

Firmly, Louis shook his head, “Just hear me out first.”

“ _No_. I’m fucking tired of you thinking you can just wink your eyelashes at me and suddenly everything’s okay. Now move your arm.” He hissed out impatiently and without warning, Harry grabbed Louis’s arm and aggressively shoved it out of his way. All at once, Louis found a splitting pain erupting in his limb.

Hissing in pain, he instantly brought the arm to his chest and clenched his fist over the one area in particular that seemed to be burning excessively,

“Ugh! Ah, fuck! What’s wrong!?” Harry questioned, his tone urgent as he brought Louis closer.

“My arm! Ow! Don’t touch it!”

Harry clicked his tongue as he pulled out one of the chairs from the table and maneuvered for the royal to take a seat, “I didn’t hit you that hard… So how the hell is it hurting that bad?” He muttered out with furrowed eyebrows as he steadfastly held Louis by his forearm.

“Yeah, I know you didn’t.” Louis remarked blandly, “It was hurt from earlier…” He admitted lowly, not willing to bring up the topic of his escape.

“Take off your shirt.”

Louis felt his eyes widen as he backed up in his seat, “I’d prefer if you just got Eleanor for the job.”

Rolling his eyes, Harry grunted, “Take it off so I can properly see your arm. You’re wearing sleeves. But if you’re so uncomfortable about this, whatever. I’ll just get Miss Calder in here to fix you up… Like you said, I didn’t do it so it’s not my problem.”

As the pirate captain pulled away, Louis found himself squinting, “Wait, Harry, I—“

“I don’t want to hear it.” Harry repeated right before he exited out the room, leaving Louis to sigh into his free hand heavily.

**Chapter 19.**

“Okay, so just drink some of this first.” Eleanor insisted as she motioned over the cup of purple liquid Louis’s way, she pushed some of her hair over her shoulder while she continued searching through the large trunk of medical supplies that lay on the floor between her feet.

Louis accepted the cup with a purse to his lips. His eyes glanced down at the fluid in disgust. Unable to stop himself, he watched down at his friend, “What exactly is ‘this’?” He questioned with a cringe to his face.

After he managed to leave the dining room, he’d gone straight to Eleanor’s room to see if she could help him with the pain he was obviously experiencing with his arm, not to mention the queasiness in his stomach had yet to vanish.

Danielle leaned on the wall watching on with clear amusement at Louis’s distress and the royal couldn’t even verbally attack because of the fact Eleanor would stop him.

“You’re coming down with something and it should not only help ease the pain on your arm, but also try to fight back whatever virus is coming on you.” She informed simply, her hands still rummaging in the large trunk.

With a cheeky grin, Danielle watched Louis inspect the drink, “I won’t get over the fact that you landed on your arm from your fall though. Haha. I guess fate has a funny way of working?”

Snapping his attention from the cup to the brunette, Louis glowered at her in irritation, “Can you go away?”

Smirking deviously, she shook her head, “Afraid not.”

“Come on guys.” Eleanor sighed while she began rising up, within her grasp was a large roll of surgical bandages, “Alright, Lou just drink that and I’ll wrap this on your arm.”

Louis pouted childishly to see if he could get an alternative to drinking the medicine, but Eleanor shook her head firmly causing him to groan loudly before putting the cup to his lips and gulping it down.

As the rather bitter fluid rushed down his throat, Louis came to realize exactly how dry his throat was. He had been feeling fatigue the whole time he’d been walking down to the lower deck to the room and he still hadn’t eaten anything. His body was notably weaker and he damned the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything.

After he finished the drink, he carelessly tossed the cup to ground and stumbled his feet to take a seat on the bed beside Eleanor.

Apparently not taking notice to his strange steps, Eleanor held her hands out for Louis to extend out his left arm before she pulled out a long length of the bandages.

Louis watched silently as she sighing softly and began to wrap it from the curve of his shoulder,

“This may seem random, but do either of you have a clue how I can get back on Harry’s good graces?” He muttered out with furrowed eyebrows.

Eleanor’s hands visibly paused in apparent surprise and when Louis raised his head to meet with her eyes, she frowned sadly, “I’m the last person you should ask about that.”

Immediately, both of them turned to Danielle who held a hand to her chin thoughtfully, “I take it that Niall’s little ‘Kiss and make up’ plan didn’t succeed then.”

“No, it really didn’t.” Louis blandly remarked with a sigh.

The curly haired pirate tilted her head to the side, her eyes thoughtful, “I’m not the closest person to Captain Styles on the ship, but I can tell you that getting on his good graces when you were on there to be begin with should be easy.” Her gaze moved to Louis, “You should try apologizing. If you take the blame, even if it isn’t all yours, he should be all over you like I am to El.”

Eleanor instantly perked up, a smile coming to her face at the proposal, “Yeah! That seems good!” She averted her attention to Louis, “Lou, I’m sure if you just act nice and polite Captain Styles will just forget all about your escape attempt and everything will be okay for you.”

Louis groaned, “I tried apologizing and it didn’t work. So that’s out of the window.”

“Whoa, really?” Danielle questioned in disbelief, causing Louis to scowl and nod his head in confirmation. Danielle blinked her eyes in surprise, “Well damn! If  _you_ apologized and acted all sweet to him and he didn’t forgive you, I dare to say our dear captain is finally coming back.”

“What do you mean?” The royal asked in confusion.

The female pirate shrugged, “The little pussy that you’ve been dealing with and has been putting up with your incompetent bullshit is leaving and the  _real_ Prince of the Seven Seas is coming back. Not to discourage you or anything, but you’ve talked back to Captain Styles so much within your time here and he’s never done anything aside from tease you. Before you were on board, if any of us talked out of line he’d tie us to the ship’s mass for a whole day.” Her lips pursed at the thought,

“Your escape must have triggered something in that man’s head. For those four days you were gone in punishment, he was pretty unstable and on the brink of snapping. With you back now, I’d say he’s just back to being good ‘ole Captain Styles… Which can be considered good and bad, I guess?”

Louis ran a hand through his hair, his eyes moving back to Eleanor as he urged her to continue wrapping his arm. Eleanor caught the look and she went on, though she regarded Danielle curiously, “Alright, so if he’s back to how he was before, is there any other way for Louis and him to at least be on good terms?”

Once more, the female’s hand went to her chin, “Well, you can always try seducing him.”

Eleanor’s eyes grew wide and Louis watched Danielle as though she were mad.

“What.” It didn’t even come out as a question.

Danielle swung one of her legs, her hands coming up while she shrugged her shoulders, “If I were in his shoes, honestly, if you came up to me all offering your body and stuff, I’d give in. I mean, if you fucked me right then all would be forgiven.”

“ _Danielle_.”

“It’s not just me!” She quickly stressed as she threw Louis a defensive look. “Zayn, Liam, and Niall do it all the time whenever they get mad at each other! I’m sure Harry is just the same!”

That was ridiculous.

Louis could only imagine the scene in his head with utmost failure.

It was one thing for him to suck up his pride and admit himself as wrong for things that weren’t even entirely his fault… It was  _another_ thing for him to go shoving himself onto Harry naked and fucking him for forgiveness.

Not only that, if Harry took it the wrong way, Louis could end up deepening the growing hole he was already in.

As Eleanor finished the bandages and now started tying a knot to it, she shook her head before speaking, “If you ask me, the seducing thing is really something you should do if you’re super desperate because when I think of it, it doesn’t end too well on your part Louis.”

She glanced upward and the two locked eyes. Smiling, she inclined her head to the side a bit, “Just be sweet. Treat him like you’d treat me. Everyone says he liked you before and I think he did too. It’s impossible for ‘like’ to just disappear so soon and if anything, he’s not mad at you exactly. He’s probably just hurt and this is his way of showing it.”

Bewildered at her words, Louis leaned closer, “Hurt? How would  _he_ be hurt?”

“I don’t know. I heard from Liam that he made you promise not to leave him but you left anyways? He probably trusted you.”

Louis let this new found perspective sink in.

He forgot that he had promised Harry he wouldn’t leave.

It was groggy and if he even remembered right, Harry had made him promise it in such a quick moment. Louis had been too busy recovering from the sex too fully think of it and afterwards, he’d been too excited on the idea of heading into the city.

Couple that in with the fact Harry already told him from before he hated liars and suddenly Louis had a vague idea of what was rolling inside of the pirate captain’s brain.

Groaning, Louis smacked his forehead with his right hand, “Now that I know what’s bothering him the most, I need to somehow miraculously solve it—“

With a powerful and loud ‘ _thud’_ the door to the room was suddenly swung open with amazing force as it slammed against the wall behind it.

All three occupants within the room turned to the entrance in surprise as Zayn stood at the doorway, his dark eyes livid as they instantly zeroed in on Louis.

Before the royal had a chance to react, Zayn was upon him. The pirate grabbed a fistful of the royal’s shirt front and yanked him upward to his feet. Not prepared for the sudden and violent movements, Louis was powerless to stop the dark haired male as he slammed Louis’s back against the wall seemingly effortlessly.

Eleanor let out a scream and Louis finally found a grip on reality as he struggled to remove Zayn’s offending hand while he was pinned to the wall.

“What the fuck is your problem!?” Louis snarled out angrily, his irises glaring into Zayn’s as the offensive pirate sneered at him just as furiously,

“I’m tired of your fucking bullshit!” Zayn replied back just as loudly.

Louis grunted, “I—“

“You’re fucking disgusting, okay!? I’m tired of you and your shitty ass existence! You’re just like your fucking father and all the fucking royals that have taken to the throne for the past several generations! You only care about yourself! You’re such a son of a bitch!”

Wordlessly, Louis could only watch as Zayn continued his rant,

“Harry’s breaking from the inside out and he refuses to let any of us— no, he refuses to let  _me_ near him! It’s all your fucking fault! But you don’t care.” Zayn seethed out darkly, “You don’t care about anyone but yourself.” His grip on Louis’s shirt clearly tightened and Louis found himself tensing as Zayn lowered his head, “I fucking warned you to  _not_ mess with my mate’s heart.”

Louis scowled as he watched it calmly, “Zayn, you need calm down and hear me out.”

“Why the fuck should I do that when you never did it for Harry?”

“Okay, now I know I clearly did something to throw Harry off, but—“

Zayn rose his head upward, his brown eyes regarding Louis menacingly, “You royals are good at making excuses to cover your own asses. It may have worked on Harry, but it’s not working on me, Princess.”

“Zayn, that’s enough!” Eleanor exclaimed loudly, from behind Zayn’s head Louis was able to see her standing to her feet now, panic now on her features as she watched the scene in pure concern.

The pirate grunted, he hardly turned to acknowledge her with a scoff, “The fact you have Eleanor brainwashed is another thing that makes me mad. She’s defending you in a battle she has no business in this whatsoever.”

Louis’s eyes dulled as he leered at Zayn plainly, “So defending Harry in a battle that doesn’t concern you is suddenly better!? Think over what you say before it comes out your damn mouth! If you’d just shut the hell up and let me fucking talk, you’d know that I actually have something to input that would make you take your fucking hands off of me!” His right hand moved to touch over Zayn’s hand that still clutched his shirt front roughly.

“When it has to do with  _my_ captain then the battle does concern me.” With his words, Louis found himself tensing up as Zayn’s fist raised upward overhead.

He hadn’t really thought of this rising into a physical fight, but now it was imminent.

But then, without warning, Zayn was suddenly yanked backward by his right shoulder violently.

Clearly not expecting the attack, the male was sent two steps backward, his grip on Louis released immediately and Louis blinked a few times as he watched Danielle standing behind the male pirate, her eyes entirely annoyed.

“Alright, you got your two seconds of ‘masculinity’ now will you please drop your caveman mentality and get back to planet Earth?” She irritably questioned.

Zayn leered at her in annoyance, “Mind your own damn business, Danielle.”

“I probably would have if you didn’t do two things.” She held up two fingers with a glare returned his way, “One, try to punch him in the face when you don’t even let him talk for at least one fucking second, and two, bring Eleanor’s name into your filthy mouth.”

She took a step back and extended her arms outward, “If you’re fighting anyone here, it’ll be  _me_. But I’m letting you know now, if you would have shut up for a good minute or so, you’d know that His Highness is  _sorry_ for what he did and he planned on making it up to  _our_ captain before you stormed in here all crazy.”

Zayn paused, his facial expression contorting up in obvious confliction as he turned his head away from Danielle to look at Louis questioningly.

The prince was fixing the front of his shirt with a scowl on his face while his eyes watched over Zayn in irritation, “Yeah, she’s kinda right.”

“And now, I’m the asshole.” Zayn sighed heavily with a loud groan.

Danielle snorted, her back leaning against the wall once more, “You were always the asshole. Nothing’s changed.”

He shot her a warning glower that she returned.

Sighing heavily, Zayn folded his arms over his chest and awkwardly gazed at Louis, “Sorry ‘bout that… I just…” He rubbed the back of his neck with his eyes shamefully glancing away, “I get real protective when someone’s messing with my mates, alright?”

Louis nodded slowly, “Yeah, I can see that. No harm no foul, I guess. I don’t feel like having two people on this ship out to get me so we’ll just go on with life and pretend you never went avenging angel on me over Harry’s feelings.” He ran a tired hand through his hair.

Attempting to break the tense atmosphere, Eleanor said, “Before you came in we were talking about ways for Captain Styles and Louis to get back to how they were before, because apparently, the Captain isn’t exactly the friendliest right now toward Lou.” She briefly explained with a nod the male’s way.

Zayn took in the information with an understanding expression, “It’s kind of hard to  _not_ notice his change in attitude.” He blew out a huff of air, “That explains part of my aggression, which I apologize for again, Louis.”

“I accept your apology again, Zayn. But on another note, with his change in attitude, you’re close to the guy… What’s there to do that will make his attitude change back?” Louis inquired seriously, his tone visibly taking Zayn by slight surprise.

Taking a few seconds, Zayn’s arms folded over his chest once more as his expression went off into that of thought.

The other three within the room all watched him expectantly. Zayn’s eyes trailed over to Louis where the royal found himself stiffening as the pirate’s eyes evaluated over his body skeptically before it appeared as though an idea sprung over his head like a flash of lightning.

Zayn turned toward Louis expectantly before he beckoned him over while approaching the door, “Come on, Princess. I have an idea.”

“Let’s hope it’s a good one.” Louis snorted as he began walking toward the dark haired male; he glanced back at Eleanor and Danielle prior to giving them both a quick wave and following Zayn out into the halls.

His steps were still slow and the moment he tried to jog ahead, he felt his lungs clench on him painfully. Pushing back the feel he came into step with Zayn as the two began going up the stairs to exit out on deck.

When Zayn opened the door and the two were now out on the open deck.

Silently, Louis kept behind the pirate, waiting for him to stop and explain what the plan was.

Zayn halted his steps near one of the ship’s masses and Louis curiously watched as the male turned to face him with a grin, “Now we begin the plan.”

“Right. So what is it?” Louis asked brightly.

Without a word, Zayn’s hand was out to Louis’s bandaged arm. A bit puzzled, Louis allowed him to hold up the sensitive limb and he could only gaze on in growing confusion as the pirate began to unravel the bandages.

“Zayn—“

“Trust me.”

“Can you just tell me what I’m trusting you on?”

The pirate blinked, his posture straightening up, “You’re really honest about this? Apologizing? You aren’t playing with him again, are you?” He seriously questioned, ignoring Louis’s earlier words.

Louis’s eyebrows creased and he gazed back into Zayn’s eyes solemnly,

He gave a single nod, “I’m honest.”

“Good. I’m sorry about the pain now, but you can thank me later.”

“Wait, what do you mean—“

Zayn’s arm came crashing down at the center point in his left arm with a surprising amount of force that instantly sent an extreme row of pain shooting out Louis’s body.

A shout of agony rippled out of his mouth as he pulled his left arm closer to his chest, the motion created another wave of pain from his arm to the rest of him and he couldn’t help but let out another hiss of pain from his lips.

Then, without any degree of warning, Zayn suddenly had his shoulders beneath his hands and was shoving Louis down to the floor. The royal couldn’t properly keep his balance in between the pain he was experiencing from his throbbing arm and the fatigue from earlier so he toppled to the floor easily.

Unable to think straight from the pain, Louis couldn’t question why the hell Zayn would do something so crazy, but he was able to hear the pirate scream out,

“Harry! Harry! Someone!”

His tone sounded entirely distressed and the prince could only groan in pain as he held his arm, glaring up at Zayn through his hair, “Zayn, you—“

“What the fuck happened!?”

Louis found his speech coming to an immediate halt the moment he heard Niall’s voice within such close proximity.

He watched Zayn wave over before he kneeled down beside him on the floor, “Guys! It’s Louis! I came out here after I heard his scream! I think something’s wrong with his arm!”

It was way faster than Louis ever thought possible, faster than he thought could ever  _be_ possible, but Harry was suddenly kneeling at his side.

That was fucking fast.

The pirate captain grabbed at his left arm firmly, and Louis winced in pain from the male’s hold. “What happened?” Harry glanced over at Zayn seriously.

Zayn ran a hand through his hair breathlessly, “I don’t know, mate. I was coming out from the dining room and then I hear him scream so I ran over and saw him on the floor.”

Louis could only watched Zayn in pure disbelief.

He seriously just lied to Harry’s face.

Harry grunted as he moved his attention down to Louis with a scowl, “What the hell are you even doing up here? I told you to go to Eleanor, you little idiot.” He muttered out while seemingly inspecting Louis’s left arm.

“You’re  _not_ a doctor. Stop looking at my arm like you’ll magically know what’s wrong with it.” Louis weakly remarked, causing Harry’s eyes to narrow.

“Guys, what’s wrong?” Liam questioned as both he and Niall finally rounded over to the scene.

Zayn coughed into his hand, “Louis had a fall out and his arm is hurting real bad.”

Both pirates’ faces instantly cringed in concern and worry as he leaned down beside him, “Whoa! ­­Louis, didn’t Eleanor say to go to her for help with that?” Niall quickly inquired as he reached out to comfort the royal, but before he could, Harry slapped his arm away with dark eyes.

“Get Eleanor here now to help him.”

Niall held up his hands defensively, “Sorry and I’ll be right on it, Captain!”

As Niall got up and began sprinting to the staircase to the lower deck, Zayn coughed once more, “Eleanor can’t diagnose him out here. You should take him into your room, Harry.”

Harry silently watched the dark haired male and Louis suddenly found Zayn’s plan clicking into his head.

Sneaky bastard.

“Can you stand?” Harry questioned while bringing his arm beneath Louis’s head to help him sit upward. Louis tried to fit the role of a sickly person as best as he could as he shakily allowed Harry’s hands to guide him to his feet.

When Liam prepared to follow after the two to Harry’s quarters, Zayn stuck out his hand that held Louis’s bandages with a smirk, “Liam and I will help get Niall get Eleanor there faster!”

“Wait, what?” Liam inquired in confusion as he watched Zayn’s face mischievously grin in triumphant.

Knowing something clearly happened he groaned, “Zayn… What did you just  _do_?”

Zayn folded his arms over his chest, “The best thing this ship ever could have wanted. But hey, you know, no biggie.”

-

With Harry supporting Louis’s right arm over his shoulder, Louis tried to put off as much deadweight as he possibly could to keep the idea of him being weakened up.

When they entered the study room, Louis felt the urge to say something to the pirate captain, but he decided against it with the gut feeling he had, because if he screwed this up he’d be probably be fucked for a long time.

Opening the door to his bedroom, the curly haired male began moving the two of them toward the bed and as he did so, Louis found his eyes widening in surprise at the several plates of food and large bottle of water near the bedside.

Harry positioned him to sit and gave a sigh as he dropped off his coat to the floor,

“You’re so troublesome, I swear.” He muttered out with furrowed brows, he took his shirt off and Louis watched with uncertainty as Harry began to wrap the top around his left arm quickly and neatly.

Louis nodded, “Yeah… Thank you…”

“It’s nothing. I’m kind of curious as to what the hell happened to your arm to make it such a problem in the first place.” Harry truthfully stated while he bent down to pick up his fallen overcoat.

Knowing it was better left unsaid; Louis coughed into his hand, his lungs feeling a bit worn out, “Why do you have so much food in here?” He questioned out in a light effort to change the subject.

Harry’s mouth opened slightly before he cringed and looked away, “It was for you when you were coming to bed later tonight.”

Louis froze in shock as Harry awkwardly moved to take a seat on the other side of the bed.

“Oh. Well, thanks, I guess.” He lowly stated.

Harry actually went out of his way to do that for him? Even when he was supposedly still angry at him?

Suddenly the air in the room was much thicker and Louis found himself speechless.

But he needed to apologize to Harry… Even if he didn’t want to and it appeared Harry wasn’t upset with him anymore, he had to.

He’d be damned if he spent the last bit of his life worrying over crossing paths with the captain of the ship that seemed to love walking along the same path with him.

“I’m sorry.”

Louis’s ears perked up the instant the words broke through the delicate silence held within the area between the two. He didn’t dare look up and over at Harry as the unbelievable words floating throughout his ears.

Wait.

He didn’t just say—

“I’m sorry for everything, Louis. I really am.”

His tone was flat and serious, but for some reason, even if Louis couldn’t see his face, he had the biggest feeling in his heart that Harry’s expression was of the utmost sullen.

Perhaps he was wrong and Harry looked as neutral and stoic as he normally did. Perhaps… But the expression of the male’s heartbroken face remained etched into his mind.

The two sat there in silence as Louis sat there, prepared to hear more, but when it became apparent that Harry wouldn’t continue, Louis spoke up,

“It’s alright. I’m sorry too… For trying to escape.”

The words came out his mouth with mixed emotions. Part of him knew it was okay, Harry Styles was apologizing to him and he knew that wasn’t exactly an everyday occurrence… But the other part of him knew that it was lie.

It wasn’t exactly alright. After everything… It wasn’t.

But the part of him that knew it was okay was louder than the other for some strange reason.

Why?

Harry had done nothing to him to deserve the benefit over the doubt.

He was an over controlling, egotistical bastard that… That was created by his family’s name.

It was hard to remember that Harry was only 18.

He was still  _young_. He was young and had so much blood split on his hands. He was young and had so much happen in a few years than Louis could ever experience in a lifetime.

Louis kept his eyes down silently,

He wondered, how many people had ever been with the Prince of the Seven Seas in his most vulnerable time?

“I think it’d be best if we just started all over.” Louis sighed as he now turned to face Harry’s direction on the bed.

Harry had apparently already been facing his way and was watching him plainly, “I don’t know what you do in your fancy palace, but here in the real world, you don’t just ‘start all over’. It’s never that easy. Once something’s done, you can’t undo it.”

His morbid way of speaking made Louis grimace, “Then what exactly is going to happen between the two of us?”

“We move on.” Harry answered simply with a tilt to his head.

Louis blinked his eyes as Harry began crawling on the bed toward on him, on his fours and shirtless, Louis found a bit of anxiety enter him as Harry’s eyes locked with his,

The two stared into one another’s eyes for a brief moment before Harry let out a huge breath, his green eyes closing tiredly,

“I fucking hate what you do to me.”

“I…  _What_?” Louis questioned in confusion as Harry shook his head and began moving to get off of the bed,

The pirate captain exhaled loudly, “Just eat and drink and don’t die on me tonight. Good night.” He quickly commanded before exiting.

As the door closed, Louis found himself thinking everything.

Everyone said that he meant something to Harry…

Maybe they were right.

**Chapter 20.**

“Argh! Harry!”

The words echoed throughout the dead silent room as Louis’s eyes snapped opened with a loud groan while he felt his tense body begin to relax on top of the mattress.

Panting heavily, Louis took only two seconds to realize what just happened to him.

With his heart still racing unbelievably fast, he brought his right hand out from the covers beneath him to run over his face that was sweating out bullets at a speed swifter than what he’d like. Grunting as he sat up, he tried to adjust his legs that were beginning to drip with the sticky liquid.

“Fuck…” He mumbled out, but just as he did he found his lungs squeezing within his chest painfully. His hand moved to his mouth before he proceeded to cough repeatedly.

He was just glad he was alone in the room. If anyone had heard that, they’d know—

Louis found his whole body going rigid the moment he turned his gaze toward the wall near the door.

Eleanor and Niall stood with their backs facing him, their hands over their ears as they just  _stood_ there.

They heard him.

“What the hell are you two doing in here!?” He managed to wheeze out, his body shook from his jerk to pull up the sheet to cover his noticeably bare chest.

He didn’t even remember taking off his shirt last night. But that was the last thing on his mind.

Both Niall and Eleanor were in the room when he woke up from his dream after he  _screamed_ that. They both knew what happened, especially if they were so far away.

This was incredibly fucked up.

Niall slowly moved his hands from over his ears to face Louis, his face had a nervous smile as he regarded the royal awkwardly, “Nice to see you’re awake, Your Highness…”

“What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. In. Here?” Louis deadpanned, his eyes narrowing, “And exactly how much did you hear!?” His teeth gritted and his right hand clenched the sheets in his grasps tightly. The feeling in his left arm was better than it had been before, and only a dull sore was on it, but Louis didn’t dare suddenly use it and cause the intense pain to come upon it again.

“Well—“

“I’m  _so_ sorry, Lou!” Eleanor intervened; she turned around with her hands covering over her eyes, her cheeks indefinitely flushed into a deep red while she anxiously gave a small noise of embarrassment, “This is really embarrassing, I know! But I really hope you aren’t mad! It’s not our fault we’re in here! You have a fever so Harry told me to come in here while he was out to make sure I keep it down! When I came in, I didn’t think you’d be… You know…”

Niall fitted his hands into his pockets with a whistle, “I came in some time after Eleanor if that helps at all?”

Louis’s rage and embarrassment heightened, and it wasn’t even because of the fact that Eleanor and Niall  _knew_ he literally just had a wet dream about Harry, but it was probably from the fact that from Eleanor’s words, it was safe to assume that Harry had been in here from the start of his dream.

His body was hot and Louis found his mind lapsing back to the dream he had just awoken from.

It was hard to remember the details by now which was a good thing.

He couldn’t believe this.

If Harry heard him, he’d have to jump overboard.

With his head rested downward, Louis grunted with a glare down at the sheets. His pants were still wet from his release and he found himself growing more flustered when the fact that these were actually _Harry’s_ pants came to mind.

“Before I woke up…  _Please_ tell me it wasn’t obvious…” He breathed out weakly.

The two other occupants in the room stopped for a second,

Eleanor’s hands were still over her eyes and she didn’t see when Niall turned to her with a hand to his chin while he thoughtfully evaluated Louis’s words.

Finally, he shrugged, “Well, when you say obvious, does you moaning out ‘Harry, ughh Harry, oh fuck, Harry!’ count?”

Louis could kill himself.

The two of them were in here while he was going through that.  _Harry_ may have been in here when he was going through that.

Someone please shoot him now.

“I know this may be a bad time to ask, but were you on top in that dream?” Niall innocently inquired with a smile that Louis immediately glared at, “Why the hell would you want to know that, you little pervert!?”

“Oh my god. Can we just please, and when I say please, I mean  _please_  drop this topic!? We can act like this never happened, okay!? Because this is really embarrassing and I kind of want to die right now!” Eleanor piped in nervously, her face still hadn’t calmed down from her apparent discomfort.

Louis blandly stared at her, “ _You_ want to die? You’re not the one that just had a wet dream about Harry and had two people stand to hear the end of it.” At the end of his words, he gave a groan as his throat began to grow irritated. With his hand balled into a fist, he doubled over to start coughing once more, this time more powerful that before.

Hearing his distress, Eleanor instantly dropped her hands from her face to rush toward him. She dropped to the side of the bed and picked up a cup of water that she immediately offered to him. Louis attempted to calm his coughs to no avail and he simply took the water in hand until his lungs gave way.

Taking a quick drink from the cup, Louis held his throat lightly while glaring over at Niall, “You two will  _never_ take what you heard outside of this room. Do you hear me?”

Blinking in confusion, Niall glanced around, “Wait. Why are you staring at me!? What about Eleanor!?”

“I can trust Eleanor not to go running her mouth to Danielle, but knowing you, you’d probably go running off to Liam or Zayn. Knowing them, they’d tell Harry and then my life would officially be _over_.” Louis briefly explained with a moan.

He couldn’t handle the thought of Harry have the satisfaction in knowing Louis had a wet dream about him.

That was a huge no.

He was a prince for fuck’s sake! He couldn’t even believe his mind was concocting something as disturbing as that!

Reasonably, Louis had a feeling it had to do with the smidge detail that Harry had been known to harass him sexually.

He also had a fever.

That was the only explanation.

“Why would it be over?” Niall’s eyebrows furrowed as he took a seat on the bed with a confused expression, “Harry wouldn’t be mad. I think he’d be  _happy_ you’re dreaming of him like that!”

Louis shook his head rapidly, “No. No. No. No.”

“But… Last night you and Harry made up. Don’t you like him?” The Irishman sounded genuinely bewildered and when Louis made eye contact with him, he almost felt bad for crushing whatever strange hope Niall had in regards to that little thought.

“Yeah, we made up.” Louis muttered,

He found himself at a loss on how to answer the blonde’s question though.

Louis wasn’t even sure if he liked Harry as a  _friend_.

The main reason he wanted to apologize to Harry in the first place was just so he wouldn’t die, right?

Did he like Harry? Everyone always told him that Harry liked him… Louis felt sympathetic to the male’s tragedy; that was a fact. Though enough for them to even be considered friends that was probably going overboard?

He had been given an apology,  _twice_  from Harry. A gift that Louis could certainly bet his life wasn’t given to more people than he could count on his hand.

That Harry he had been able to witness all vulnerable was easily comparable to the one he had seen back in the shopping centre in Ireland where he had been all reminiscent over his deceased sister, which showed Louis that Harry was more than capable of displaying love for someone.

“I guess I like him.” The royal truthfully voiced, “I’m not sure.”

Niall brightened up with a grin and Eleanor smiled gently.

“I mean, can I really  _like_  a man after he’s imprisoned me and held me captive?” Louis reasonably questioned with a humorless smile to his face.

The Irishman pouted, “But you’re not a captive! You get to walk around and have fun! You’re not chained to a wall or anything!”

Louis tried not to relapse back into Harry’s punishment, and when he nearly did, he found himself wondering with confusion, “I haven’t been asleep for days, have I?” He cringed, the thought as his stomach began growling in hungry, “Everything I remember happened last night, right?”

Nodding, Niall said, “You mean in between your huge fall out on deck and everything? Yeah. You’ve only been asleep for one night, but it’s pretty late into the day already so your fever kept you sleeping.” He briefly informed.

Louis let out a breath of relief, “Great… Well, not the fever part because I feel like shit. Where is Harry by the way?” He curiously asked, and immediately after, the door began to open.

All three turned to the entrance and Louis half expected to see Harry pop in because the pirate captain always seemed to have such excellent timing when it came to things like that, but instead it was Liam. The brunet looked around the room in what appeared to be absolute wonder before he allowed his eyes to gaze toward the bed where the three were gathered.

He held an accusing finger Niall’s way and the blonde gave a small noise of surprise while burying his face into his shirt’s collar.

“Niall, don’t think I’m not still mad at you for earlier.”

“I said I was sorry!” The Irish boy whined out into his clothes,

Liam scoffed and he turned to look at Eleanor politely, “Danielle wants you for something.”

Eyes wide, Eleanor blinked, “We already passed the rogue ship? So soon?” She asked in disbelief while moving toward the door.

That caught Louis by surprise as he watched around, “Wait, we were passing a rogue ship!?” His words came out a bit more powerful than he would have liked, and he was reminded of his sicker condition when his throat became hoarse toward the end.

He remembered the last time they did.

When Harry shot down that pirate before his eyes after he foolishly ran out when he really shouldn’t have.

“Yeah. It was real quick. Harry’s familiar with the captain of The Golden Pearl. So business was dealt with pretty quickly and I think they were just catching up on other stuff.” Liam shrugged, “We’re trusted, so I didn’t have to guard the bridge for as long. But Zayn’s there as a precaution.”

The brief explanation made Louis nod slowly.

So that was why Harry sent Eleanor to be with him while he slept, the pirate captain had to attend to the matters outside of the ship—

That also meant that Harry had to have been in here with him before then.

“Eleanor, did you take my shirt off?” Louis questioned before the female completely exited the room.

Eleanor glanced backward with furrowed brows, “Uh, no. It was like that when I came in. I thought you took it off because your fever had you hot and all.”

Niall smiled into his hand, “I’m assuming you didn’t take your shirt off.”

“No.”

“I’m also assuming Harry did it.”

“More than likely.”

“So maybe when he was doing your dream started—“

“STOP!” Louis silenced with a leer the snickering Irishman’s way.

Groaning at the male’s immaturity, Louis tried to rest his back against the wall behind him with a stubborn glare down at his lap.

He actually wouldn’t put it past his body to do something as unbelievably betraying as that. In his dream, he could barely remember it exactly, but when he and Harry were touching it felt good. That’s how it felt in reality too. So maybe Harry’s touches while he slept triggered the hormonal part of his brain while he slept.

That must have been it.

And the fever.

“On the topic of Harry,” Liam began with a smile as he took a seat beside Niall on the bed. He ruffled the blonde’s hair and moved his head to the side in an effort to gaze at Louis properly, “Whatever you two did in here last night must have really been something.”

“Eh, what do you mean?” The brunet unsurely inquired making Liam shake his head, “He got no sleep last night but he was so… So…”

Niall raised a finger upward with an eyebrow arched, “Harry?”

Liam snapped his fingers, “Yes. He was so Harry!” He grinned Louis’s way, “It was a good thing. When you were getting your um, punishment, Harry was more detached from the rest of us. He seemed ready to snap and just explode on anyone when they brought him out of his thoughts. Now, he’s back to being calculated and composed. When you look at him, it’s hard to read his emotions, which is how it used to be. I think things are looking up now actually.”

Not entirely sure on what say, Louis blinked, “He got no sleep last night? How do you know?” He blandly inquired, and it came to his attention once more that the bed he slept in was Harry’s. He didn’t give much thought to where Harry normally slept because as long as he had somewhere to sleep, it was all okay.

Now, he was a bit curious.

“I’ve known Harry for a while. I  _know_ when he gets no sleep.” Liam answered with a nod.

As an afterthought he sighed, “Also, I want to say sorry on Zayn’s behalf for his completely  _insane_ plan last night.”

Louis scoffed at the mention of it with a shake to his head, “Its fine.” He wobbled his left arm from under the covers. Harry’s shirt was still wrapped around it, “It doesn’t hurt as much.”

“Zayn’s plan may have been crazy, but it worked!” Niall threw in,

Before Louis could retort to how that didn’t exactly make it any better, the door to the bedroom opened once more.

All of the males moved their attention to the entrance curiously to the newcomer and the moment that Louis saw the familiar figure he dropped his gaze to his bed sheets painfully.

“Hey, Harry.”

“Whoa. The ship’s already moving again?”

Niall held his arms outward in amazement, “I didn’t even notice!”

Louis could hear Harry sigh lowly, “Not good, Niall. You always need to know about your surroundings and what’s going on with your environment.” His words were like a teacher lecturing a student, and judging from Niall’s soft whine, it was normal for him to be scolded into the pirate-like ways.

Groaning, Liam noticeably moved closer to the Irishman, “I was just yelling at him about that earlier.”

“I said I was sorry!”

“Saying sorry doesn’t change the fact that you need to carry something to protect yourself at all times! I don’t care if it’s uncomfortable! If you’d wear it more often, you’d get used to it! Zayn and I won’t always be there to protect you!”

“I know, but I don’t need you both to protect me! I’m capable on my own!”

“Niall, you can hardly fight one person without getting hurt all over.”

“Just because I’m not a master assassin like you and Zayn, doesn’t mean I’m not good at fighting! I’m still learning!”

“You just proved my point! If you’re still learning, why  _wouldn’t_ you have a weapon on you at all times?”

“You know, as much as I want to see how this lovers’ quarrel will end, I don’t.” Harry harshly intervened, “Continue it outside of my room, you two.”

Both Niall and Liam scowled at one another as both stomped toward the exit,

“You’re too protective!”

“You’re too arrogant!”

The door closed behind him and in the distance, Louis swore he heard something crash in Harry’s study, but that was placed behind him as Harry was suddenly sitting right beside him on the mattress. Feeling the curly haired captain’s gaze over him, the prince instinctively raised the sheet to cover more of his exposed chest silently.

After a couple moments of silence, Louis cleared his throat, “If you get too close you may catch this fever.”

“I won’t. So how are you feeling?” Harry questioned back instantly, his hand went over Louis’s and forcibly pushed it down in an effort to get a look at his chest.

Louis prepared to protest, but Harry’s cool hand was brushing against his front lightly and he found himself biting his bottom lip tightly.

His dream.

He tried to push those thoughts away.

“A-alright.” Louis weakly muttered, he could feel himself growing hard and he damned his body to hell as he found his eyes looking over at Harry.

The pirate captain managed to keep away all traces of emotion from his face while he continued touching Louis’s chest firmly.

Harry was truly attractive.

But it was as though he were a devil trapped in an angel’s body.

A gorgeous face that hid nothing but cruelty.

When one of Harry’s fingers brushed over one of his nipples, Louis found himself grunting while pulling backward.

He glared over at Harry in annoyance, “Why do you even care?”

Harry quirked a brow upward and Louis struggled to find his words, “I mean, why are you even bothering with me? I’m a game piece to you in your game, remember? I don’t matter. You’re the creator of the game and I’m only an accessory. So why do you care?”

His words were winded, and he had to put his hand to his mouth to catch his coughs.

Visibly, Louis watched Harry’s neutral tight facial expression move downward ever so slightly, an action that made Louis grimace into his hand.

“As a pirate captain, you learn that when you’re on the brink of tearing someone down, you hit them right where it hurts them the most. It makes them more open and easier to put under your control.”

The explanation was simple and to the point.

Louis found himself understanding instantly, but if Harry only said that to get Louis easier to handle… Then that meant that he meant something to him?

“Do I  _really_ mean something to you?” Louis asked the younger male that exhaled heavily, his eyes glancing away, “You’re not a game piece to me, Louis.”

Louis kind of expected his words to go ignored in the form of that more cryptic answer, but he couldn’t deny the strange feeling entering his stomach with Harry’s own statement.

If Louis wasn’t a game piece… What was he?

He wanted to ask, get the words out of his mouth to get an answer upfront, but for some odd reason he couldn’t do it.

Harry pulled back now, his arms folding over his chest as he watched Louis simply, “That aside, I must say I’m curious, Princess. Were you killing me in your sleep earlier?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 21.**

Louis tried to catch himself as he stared ahead at the blank faced pirate captain.

He could feel a rapid heat rising to his face as the realization that Harry was questioning him over his dream came to mind.

How bloody embarrassing.

The words that passed his brain moved faster than he would have liked and he had difficulty even opening his mouth. Knowing he had to stall, he brought his hand to his mouth in an effort to pretend to cough as convincing as possible.

Harry didn’t appear smug, and in fact look incredibly patient.

Did he really think Louis was killing him? With the way Niall had mimicked him, he sure as hell wouldn’t have thought that he was murdering anyone… But Harry wouldn’t react this way if he suspected Louis had a wet dream about him, would he? Louis would think he’d milk it for all he had.

“I’m sorry, but what gave you that idea?” Louis questioned, he tried to make himself appear as confused as possible.

Harry shrugged his shoulders, “When I was in here when you were sleeping, you were talking in your sleep. Said some things that seemed like murder and you looked like you were bothered. Unless I was the one killing you and you’re too anxious to talk about it?” His tone seemed incredibly serious.

But…

Harry couldn’t possibly be that naïve.

But he wouldn’t act so concerned if he knew Louis had that kind of dream.

This couldn’t be any more awkward.

“I don’t remember my dream all too clearly to be honest.” Louis cleared his throat, his eyes fleeting away from Harry’s intense gaze, “So who knows what could have happened? I doubt it had to do with murder though.”

“Are you sure? You were grunting out my name a lot.”

Why was he doing this to him?

The royal’s face flushed more warmly than the fever ever could have and Louis just wanted to die. The fact that Harry had no clue what he was doing was making this worse.

Louis scowled lightly the moment Harry’s hand extended out to touch his left one gently from over the covers, “I’m confronting you about this because I don’t ever want you to feel uncomfortable around me.”

This probably would have been really sweet if it wasn’t for the fact Louis was keener on keeping himself from growing hard at the feeling of Harry’s hands grazing over his so lightly. The male’s hands were rough and callused, but he was being gentle.

It felt so strange.

“Uh…”

Harry continued, “If you ever have a dream about me that makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, shape, or form, come to me about it. I’ll talk it out with you.”

“No, no. I’m telling you.” Louis quickly remarked. He rushed to move his hand from beneath Harry’s, he turned his eyes back to the pirate captain in search of any emotion that would indicate that Harry was toying with him because he knew the truth, but he had his face completely serious. “So you can just get off of me and everything will be alright.”

He tried moving himself backward against the wall with a charming smile toward the curly haired captain’s way,

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed, “You seem off. Are you positive you don’t want to talk over your dream?”

“Why are you so damned concerned about it?” Louis groaned out, a hand ran throughout his hair with a frown to his lips. “I’m  _fine_.”

“You know a dream can tell you a lot about your feelings. Or at least that’s what I always thought.” Harry airily remarked, he moved his seat closer to Louis and watched him solemnly, “Maybe you’re too embarrassed to say—“

“I. Am. Fine.” Louis stressed out hotly now, his eyes glared at the younger male that held his hands up in defense with a shrug,

Harry flipped his hair with a small breath before he inclined his head toward Louis, “Well, I suppose that’s a good way to appreciate my concern for you, Princess.”

Unable to resist, Louis rolled his eyes, “I’d probably show it more appreciation if you didn’t call me ‘Princess’. It’s demeaning to me. How would you like it if I called  _you_ Princess?”

Clearly looking as though he didn’t care all too much, Harry shrugged his shoulders, “I wouldn’t mind so long as I’m the only one you’re calling Princess.”

Oh.

Louis felt his eye twitch ever so slightly while he glared down at his lap with a scowl, “If you  _want_ me to call you that, it sort of defeats the purpose of calling you it. Though I’m not too sure what your crew would think if the big and bad deadly Captain Styles was being called Princess by a captive. Hah.” Louis dryly snorted as he attempted to shift the topic.

Harry’s lips moved downward a bit and his eyebrows scrunched in a way that showed Louis he struck a nerve.

“I’d advise you to not do that.”

“Oh? Why not? I thought you didn’t mind.”

Cocking a brow upward, Harry watched Louis as though he were completely stupid, a notion that kind of annoyed Louis more than he would admit, “Are you questioning an order from your captain?”

Louis narrowed his eyes, “That wasn’t an order. You ‘advised’ me. Lucky for you, I don’t think I’ll take your advice, Princess.”

Harry was silent for a moment, and for a moment Louis thought he honestly got the man upset, but when he gazed back at Louis, a small and amused smile to his lips, Louis felt kind of proud of himself.

With a shake to his head, Harry stood to his feet, “You’re cute, Princess.” He stuck his hands in his pockets, a smirk slowly growing on his face, “Tonight we’re having another mock-campfire. I don’t want you out of bed and stressing yourself out if your fever is still bad, but if it gets better you’re free to join us.”

The mock-campfire?

But didn’t they just leave Ireland a few days ago?

Louis chose not to question it and instead nodded his head, his blue eyes looking on as Harry began approaching the door. When the pirate captain appeared to be exiting, he paused before turning back to the bedridden royal, “Oh, and if you call me ‘Princess’ outside of these walls when there’s someone other than just the two of us, I will not hesitate to tell the whole crew about your little dream with me.” Harry smiled sweetly and Louis found his mouth opening into an ‘o’.

“I’m glad you see things my way. But it’s not an order. Just advice.”

As the door closed, it now came to Louis that he’d either need to get some embarrassing information on Harry or be sheltered in the blackmail of that threat because God knew Harry would leave that over his head for while.

He knew his suspicions were right.

There was just no way in the world Harry would mistake groans for murder over sex.

Just no way.

After that, Eleanor had come back in the room multiple times with different medicines that she claimed would help lower Louis’s fever and to help him get cleaned up from his dirty clothes. Although he appreciated the new set of clothes from Liam, in all honesty, he felt the medicine part of Eleanor’s help was unnecessary. He had already broke his fever after the second taste of the bitter fluids she forced him to take down when she forced him out of his nap, but she insisted that he’d have to keep drinking more.

It was disgusting and he tried to mock cry to evade drinking it, though it only made Eleanor frustrated and Louis tried to stop her frustration before she got the lovely idea of blackmailing him with the same information as Harry in her head.

He fell asleep once more during one point before he even realized, and when he woke up once more it was dark outside.

When he remembered what Harry said about the bonfire to occur, he found himself releasing a single breath while pulling himself upward on the bed.

Getting outside after being stuck inside all day in bed seemed pretty inviting.

Harry’s sheets were still dirtied from Louis’s dream earlier and Louis couldn’t resist the urge to rip the covers off of the bed. He balled them all of up in his hands and deposited them in the farther corner of the room.

He was sure Harry had spare sheets  _somewhere_.

Sighing, Louis moved back to the bed to place his boots back on and while he did so, he gave his stiff left arm a single look.

The arm felt only a light sting of pain when Louis gave a test push on it through the fabric of Harry’s shirt. Not wanting to slow himself down and knowing he could tolerate the pain, Louis began to unknot the tight bond.

After he finished, and he was just about sure he didn’t look like a complete mess, he pushed himself out of Harry’s bedroom door and then out of the study room to the open deck where he was instantly greeted with the bright sight of the burning orange flame of the mock-campfire.

Like before, everyone was set up around the bright and flickering blaze on crates and the floor, laughing and chattering on excessively.

His eyes were quick to catch the only two females on the ship, with their long hair and backs facing him, Louis evaluated the available seats as seen from the amount of space present between the usual group.

He knew he couldn’t cut in-between both Danielle and Eleanor and he’d feel terribly awkward if he went between Zayn, Liam, or Niall since the three were all sitting together. Danielle sat next to Liam, and he had a feeling with the extreme closeness the two had on the crate, Danielle wouldn’t separate without a fight. Eleanor was at the edge of the crate with no spot beside her unless Louis wanted to sit on the floor.

When he looked over at the far end, beside Zayn, Harry sat. His face only partially visible from the angle Louis as the pirate captain watched the other six with a rather bored face, almost as though he didn’t want to be there.

There was a large amount of space on Harry’s other side and Louis knew not only did he have no other real choice and it probably wouldn’t that bad to sit next to Harry anyways so it was only option.

Not wanting to be completely cut off from everyone else as Harry had done the last time they had the fire, Louis found his legs carrying him toward the open area between the curly haired captain and Zayn.

Extending his leg outward to hop over the crate, Louis placed both his hands on Zayn and Harry’s shoulders with a hum, “Hello, everyone.” He greeted lightly as in a single instant, everyone’s attention was turned toward him.

“Hey, Louis!” Niall’s voice was heard much louder over the chorus of greetings Louis found himself receiving.

Louis turned to his right while he sat down to give them all a curt wave,

“Glad to see you made it.” Zayn nodded at him while leaning back on his hands,

“Eh, I didn’t want you all to have mock-campfire fun without me, I guess.” He truthfully answered with a shrug to his shoulders; his eyes looked off into the fire silently.

Liam put a hand to his chin with an arched brow, “Aren’t you still feeling sick though?”

The Irishman in-between Liam and Zayn hunched forward to get a better look at the royal, his eyes curious, “You shouldn’t stress yourself when you’re sick. If you don’t feel well, go back to bed.”

“I’m fine.” Louis shortly replied with pursed lips.

In all honesty, the fever wasn’t even that bad to begin with… Or maybe it was because of Eleanor’s treatments that helped? Either way, it wasn’t that bad. He could get through it without stressing himself so it didn’t matter.

Looking for a quick subject change, Louis then added in, “So what were you all talking about?”

Eleanor leaned forward to catch a glimpse at Louis with her hand raised slightly, “My ‘back story’ I guess you can say.” She pushed a piece of her hair behind her ears with a smile, “It’s not interesting, but Danielle and Liam were curious enough.”

Danielle snorted while wrapping her arm over Eleanor’s shoulders, “Not interesting? El, don’t kid yourself! It is! It’s cool to hear about stuff from the perspective of someone who’s been working for royalty their whole life!”

“No, it isn’t.” Louis heard Harry mutter from behind him.

Blinking, Louis glanced over his shoulder to watch the brunet staring off into the fire, his expression entirely dull to match his rather morbid way of speaking.

He was pretty sure Harry knew that his words caught the royal’s attention, and knowing it’d be too strange to just turn away from him without any remarks, Louis flipped his hair and tapped his fingers on the crate, “Not too invested in Eleanor’s background?” He attempted to stimulate conversation lowly.

Harry visibly paused for a moment, his eyes still watching into the blaze ahead emotionlessly, “Not really. It’s a shame that for a commoner her life’s been sheltered so severely. I can only assume that’s how she turned out so reserved.”

Louis scowled lightly, “She’s reserved because that’s how she is. Not because she was sheltered.”

Green eyes flashed toward him, and Louis stared back at the male silently before Harry shrugged without a care, “If you say so. You should know her better than anyone considering how she’s been clinging to your shirt since her birth.”

Louis prepared to retort because a part of him found slight offense, but when he reviewed the male’s words in his head, he had to admit that they had a degree of truth to them.

But still. The way he said it made Eleanor seem like a slave or something.

“I don’t understand why you don’t like her. She’s a really sweet girl and she hasn’t done anything wrong to you like I have.” Louis admitted with a slight grumble to his tone.

Harry’s head tilted a bit, his mouth fixed into a straight line before he spoke, “She supports the monarchy. I have every reason to not like her.”

“I  _am_ the monarchy but you don’t treat her half as well as you do to me.” Louis countered out instantly. It came out a bit more forceful and heated than he’d like, but once the words left his mouth there was no turning back.

The pirate captain frowned now, his expression souring into irritation and Louis himself found his arms folding over his chest while he turned away from the brunet stubbornly to listen to the rest of Eleanor’s story.

Laughing, Eleanor shook her head at Niall, “Well, I’ve been to the parties, but I was never really interested in them because all the men that approached me to dance were too stuck up and they seemed very fake. The moment they found out I wasn’t a noble; they suddenly went running with their tail between their legs.” She rolled her eyes with a smile.

Danielle snorted, “Typical boys. And they call  _girls_ gold diggers? Oh, please.”

Eleanor flashed the pirate a beam, “Yup. So that’s the end of my story. I’m nothing special. Just Eleanor Calder, former royal nurse-in-training, current pirate doctor.” She gave a slight boy with a giggle as Niall, Liam, and Zayn began clapping.

“Encore!” Liam called out before grinning the now blushing girl’s way, “Eleanor, your life  _is_ special. Just because you weren’t faced with death or kidnapped by two pirates that fell in love with you doesn’t make it any less amazing. I actually thought it was pretty interesting to see things from the eyes of someone inside the palace.”

Zayn nodded his head in agreement, “Think of yourself more highly. You’re a part of One Direction now and we only take the best of the best.”

“And Niall.” Danielle finished with a hand gesture to the blonde.

“Hey!”

“But anyways,” Liam stressed with a quick kiss to the Irishman’s cheek to settle him down, “Sounds like palace life was pretty relaxing.”

Zayn snorted as he turned to look at Louis with a grin, “Why don’t we ask His Highness if the high life is a relaxing one? He’s here right now in the flesh so why not?” He nudged Louis in the side with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

With a jump, Louis restrained himself from letting out a squeak from the feeling of Zayn’s elbow at his side. While he composed himself, Niall watched over at him excitedly, “I actually want to hear about the life of a royal too. I’m sure it’s different from a noble lifestyle. So go on, Louis!”

Louis blinked his eyes, “Uh…”

“Yeah, I’m super curious to see how the Prince of the United Kingdom went through his years while I’ve been out on the street, busting my ass to survive.” Danielle egged on while shifting her position to face the brunet more.

Liam nodded his head, “I’m interested too. I mean, you’ve heard practically everyone’s story, we’d love to hear yours.”

Now, everyone’s attention was rotated on him and Louis tried to wrack his brain for some way to start.

He had a feeling they’d end up laughing at him for the most part, because when he put himself into perspective with the rest of them…

His hardships included not wanting to get out of bed before 10 am to study whereas Danielle, Liam, and Zayn probably had to get out of bed before 10 am to make sure they were still alive. But considering how they didn’t laugh at Eleanor and Niall—or at least he hoped they didn’t— he could assume they wouldn’t do the same for him. On the other hand, they always seemed to treat Louis differently because he was royalty.

It was probably true that his sheltered life was entirely different from both Eleanor and Niall’s. Both of them had gotten out of their home’s walls and gone into the city on their own.

Louis had never even done that.

“I—“

“He doesn’t have to say anything to you all if he doesn’t want to.” Harry interrupted sternly from behind him.

Louis felt his eyes widen a bit as he turned around to face the captain that watched on at the others in annoyance, “His life is his own and if he doesn’t feel like sharing, leave him alone.” Harry stated, his eyes briefly made contact with Louis’s and the prince scowled while he brushed his hand over Harry’s.

“No, no.” Louis swiftly said after, “Harry, it’s fine.” He reassured before turning back to the others, “Honestly, I think if I told you all about my life you’d either laugh hysterically at it or get annoyed with me.” He gave Danielle a knowing look that she instantly snorted at.

Louis resisted the urge to roll his eyes before he sighed, “I’ll keep it short without going into detail.”

Everyone grew quiet as Louis moved his gaze toward the fire ahead, “From what I heard with all of you and from what I experienced these past couple weeks… I can easily say that my life has actually been one of the most protected things on this planet.”

“Which is understandable.” Harry helpfully inputted causing Louis to nod his head slowly, “Yeah… But I don’t think it’s a good thing.”

He thought back on how everything had been in Ireland…

How there had been so many people had been out in the streets, poor and starving without a home. Some kids without parents or guardians or even siblings.

“My whole life was completely and totally  _blinded_ to the poverty and tragedies that have plagued the United Kingdom’s people. It bothers me. It really bothers me how so many more people than I’ve been told have been suffering and no one’s doing anything about it. I knew some people were homeless in Ireland, but I had no idea that there were so  _many_.” He scowled, “I don’t know if it’s just me and my father knows—“”

“Of course your father knows.” Harry briefly intervened, “Ireland’s being struck the hardest amongst the United Kingdom to be stripped of all its resources because it’s predominantly Roman Catholic. He hates us and thinks the Anglicans and Protestants in general better than us.”

“There’s no proof of that and I don’t care about your opinion on the matter either.” Louis snapped out almost instantly as he turned to glare at Harry, “I know my father’s done wrong, I’ve seen the results of it firsthand…” His gaze on the curly hair captain softened considerably while Harry’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Turning away, Louis sighed heavily with a grimace, “You want me to see my father as a monster, which I hope you know will be impossible to do. There aren’t bad people. Just good people who make bad decisions.”

Harry gave a snort, his arms crossing over his coated chest, “Oh, really? So I suppose I’m just a good person who’s made all the bad decisions tossed at me then?”

Seriously, Louis moved his attention back to him, “No. You’re a person who’s just been thrust into a bad situation. I mean,” He glanced over his shoulder at Liam and Danielle, “If you weren’t where you are now, Liam and Danielle would both be dead. Wouldn’t they?”

The two blinked in surprise at this and Harry’s eyes narrowed on Louis to continue.

“If my father hadn’t done what he did, you wouldn’t be a pirate. If you were never a pirate, you would have never been able to save Liam from dying and if Liam died, he wouldn’t have been able to save Danielle from dying later on. Aren’t I right?”

“And if that’s the case, I wouldn’t have met either Zayn or Liam…” Niall lowly added in.

Louis shrugged towards him, to prove his point even further, “If I asked anyone on this ship if you were a bad person, they’d all tell me otherwise like they’ve been doing since my first day onboard.”

Harry sat more upright, his eyes critical, “So if I asked  _you_  if I’m a bad person, what would you say?”

“That you’re not.”

And suddenly everything turned awkward for Louis as he came to terms with the shit that was coming out of his mouth.

The words already left without him even thinking and he inwardly braced himself for Harry’s reaction.

The male was clearly surprised by Louis’s remark and his expression left him staring back at Louis with disbelieving eyes.

Silence plagued over the group as Louis slowly broke his gaze with Harry in favor of watching down at his lap.

How stupid was he getting?

“So,” Zayn whistled out after a few more moments of heavy tenseness, “I have an idea on what we can do. Let’s all share one thing we like and dislike about everyone here. That sounds like fun.”

“I agree!” Niall instantly bounced up, “I’ll start! Alright, Zayn… I love your smile,” The blonde moved over to kiss the pirate on the lips briefly, “I dislike your vanity. Liam, I love how you’re quick to forgive me when we have an argument and how you care about me,” Once more the Irishman leaned toward the brunet to give him a peck on the lips, “I dislike your worrying.”

“Danielle, I love your dancing talent but I dislike yours and Zayn’s relationship. Eleanor, I love your personality and I dislike how you prefer talking to Danielle over me. I mean, I’m prettier aren’t I? Oh, Harry! I love your smile and I dislike your scary as shit demeanor you tend to give off when you don’t even mean to. Uh… Louis! Louis, I love—“

Danielle held up a silencing hand, “Alright! I think there’s too many of us to go over. Please stick to just likes for now, please and thank you.”

Niall pouted, “Louis… I love your chivalry.” He settled on with a firm nod.

Instantly, Louis’s face contorted in confusion, “Uh… Thank you?” He never recalled telling Niall anything about chivalry and that was a tad bit random considering.

Then again, Niall knew of noble life and that was possibly it. But it was still random to call him out on it since Louis wasn’t the most gentlemanly person onboard One Direction.

Beside him, Harry let out a muffled chuckle and Louis found himself turning to face the pirate once again in bewilderment,

“What’s your problem?” He now bluntly questioned, because a huge part of him just knew the reason for his laughter was because of Louis.

He watched the brunet straighten himself up, an amused smirk on his face while he stared back at the royal, “Chivalry. Haha. What century do you think we live in? That code of honor is useless and so old fashioned. I also doubt you even know how to properly hold a sword.”

“ _Excuse me_. But I  _do_ know how to hold a sword and I damn well sure know how to use one.” Louis hissed out in offense as he leered at the clearly unmoved captain of the ship.

“Is that so? You wouldn’t be too scared of scratching your poor, delicate hands would you, Princess?” The smug smile resting on his face was beginning to get a rise out of him, and Louis didn’t know if Harry was testing him or seriously thought he couldn’t hold a sword.

Louis’s glower intensified before he stood to his feet.

Harry watched him, the smirk not moving from his lips while Louis’s fists clenched and he kept his hostile stare on him, “You want to try me? Alright then, Harry Styles. Toss me a sword. I challenge you to a duel. Right here, right now.”

**Chapter 22.**

Harry’s gaze on Louis remained steady in a way that Louis could say made him feel a bit more irritated than before.

His green eyes, illuminated by the burning flames behind him were shimmering in a light that clearly stated that Harry found Louis’s words amusing.

That alone made Louis’s scowl deepen while he increased the animosity of his glare.

Harry wasn’t taking him seriously.

“Louis, I think you should just sit back down and—“

Not bothering to even break his gaze with Harry, Louis held back one of his hands toward Zayn with a silencing gesture with it to intervene his words,

Eyes still filled with mirth, Harry watched upward at the fuming royal, “ _You’re_  challenging  _me_?”

The words seemed to leave the pirate captain’s lips in such a soft way, it was almost as though Harry were singing it rather than saying it. With his speech so light and practically weightless, it furthered Louis’s annoyance.

Strongly, Louis nodded, “Glad to know you aren’t completely deaf.”

Harry didn’t appear moved; instead he leaned back on his hands, his head reeling back on his neck to stare up at Louis with a broadening sly smile that made Louis’s blood start to heat up. From his spot practically looming over the normally taller male, Louis managed to blockade the light emitting from the flames behind him from Harry, his shadow casting over the captain largely.

“Wait, what?” Niall’s voice questioned in heavy confusion, instantly breaking the tense eye-lock Louis and Harry shared.

Both brunets turned to look at the blonde who gazed on at them with his eyebrows furrowed, “I don’t know if I just zoned out or something, but wait, what? Why are you challenging him, Louis?” From the looks on their faces, it appeared that Liam, Danielle, and Zayn shared the Irishman’s puzzlement. Eleanor on the other hand appeared rather curious, her head tilted to the side with eyes wonderingly speculating the situation.

“I just want to show him that I’m not afraid of scratching my ‘delicate’ hands, as he so nicely put it.” Louis answered with a scoff.

Harry cocked an eyebrow upward, the self-righteous smirk on his lips lazing on his face ever so slightly before he turned his attention back to the royal ahead of him, “Oh, so you’re serious?”

Louis’s eyes strayed back, his expression leveling out in irritation, “Damn straight I am.” Without another word, his hand shot downward to the inner side of Harry’s overcoat.

Not flinching, Harry simply stared as Louis pulled out the male’s cutlass from its sheath smoothly.

Breathing out with confidence, Louis positioned the sharpened weapon in front of Harry’s face, right at his nose, “Unless of course, you’re  _afraid_.” He stressed the taunting word out with a smirk of superiority. Harry’s smirk vanished almost the instant the word was said.

Taking a step backward, the cutlass not lowering, Louis held his arms out expectantly, “It’ll be a quick challenge, I’m positive of that.”

Louis’s actions clearly startled or at least surprised the other crew members that watched on the spectacle quietly.

After a few more seconds of silence, Harry finally seemed to exhale with a roll to his eyes. He moved to stand upward with a bit of a grimace, “If you really want to go through with this, Princess, I suppose a quick match wouldn’t hurt.”

“Oh, boy…” Liam groaned out with a shake to his head as Harry began asking Zayn for his own cutlass, “Louis, may I please ask what you think you’re doing?”

Louis smirked as he began leading Harry off more to the edge of the ship, away from the fire and gathering of the pirates. The royal turned to Liam happily, “About to have a sword fight with Captain Styles. Where have you been the past two minutes?”

“Is it bad that I’m feeling kind of scared right now?” Niall questioned with a frown to his lips while he watched the scene with squinted eyes.

Danielle lowly shook her head, “No, I’m a little anxious too… What does the Princess think he’s doing? Captain’s going to murder him…” Her hand slid over to Eleanor’s as a way to comfort the brunette whom she assumed would be on the verge of panicking, but to Danielle’s astonishment, the girl was calmer than she was.

Turning back to the medic, Danielle frowned, “You aren’t nervous?”

Blinking a few times, Eleanor focused in on the female regarding her before she shook her head with a smile, “Why would I be nervous?”

The other three boys apparently keened in on the conversation, and Zayn leaned forward to watch Eleanor with confused eyes, “Were you sleeping the whole time Louis basically called Harry out or…?”

“Wait, so because Lou is about to duel Captain Styles, I should be nervous?”

“Why  _wouldn’t_ you be nervous? He’s your friend!” Niall proclaimed with exaggerated hand gestures, one of which accidently clocked Liam in the back of the head. Liam tried to ignore it, though annoyance was evident in his eyes while he turned back to Eleanor, “You’re taking this pretty well. Would it be safe for me to assume Louis is probably going to take off all his clothes to stop Harry from attacking him?”

Eleanor let out a giggle with a shake to her head once more, “Lou isn’t confident for nothing. Why would he challenge Captain Styles if he has nothing to back himself up?”

Danielle crossed her arms with a look off into the fire, “I could think of a few reasons.”

“Because he’s kind of mad.” Niall offered out with a slightly raised hand.

“Because he knows Harry wouldn’t hurt him to the point of no recovery.” Liam tried.

“Because he’s mad, he knows Harry wouldn’t seriously hurt him, and he’s secretly a masochist.” Zayn decided on with a nod, “I mean, he keeps doing stuff to Harry that just keeps adding on to his humiliation and pain… Do you guys think he likes that?” He curiously inquired to his companions that all watched back at him plainly.

Blowing out a breath of air, Liam straightened himself up, “Well, I prefer not to think about people in that sort of light—“

“Except in your bedroom.” Danielle cut in innocently, even though her eyes sparkled mischievously.

Liam’s face instantaneously flushed red as he glared at her, however, she simply snickered into her hand, “The walls seem so much thinner whenever you, Niall, and Zayn are together in your room at night… Hm…” The sly expression masked over her features in a way that clearly made Liam appear a bit flustered, along with Zayn and Niall that awkwardly glanced away.

Louis glared over at the chattering bunch.

He contemplated on shouting at them for their attention, but he was stopped as Harry cleared his throat.

The royal glanced over to his opponent that stood several feet across from him, his body language and posture obviously showing that he was relaxed and not prepared to spar.

“That’s not the proper way to hold a sword, Princess.” Harry informed leisurely, the corners of his lips quirked into an arrogant smirk.

Louis’s eyes narrowed into slits before he sneered, “That’s not the proper way to stand for a duel, _Princess_.”

“How exactly do you want to do this then?” Harry questioned, taking no counter to the ‘Princess’ calling.

Stopping to consider that for a moment, Louis ran over the different scenarios this could work out.

Harry wasn’t taking him seriously in the slightest and if that was any clue, that’d mean when they actually clashed swords, he wouldn’t give it his all and a win would be far too easy.

Louis didn’t want that.

He wanted to be able to show Harry that he was more than capable of taking him down with his own skills that shouldn’t be questioned. He was trained in sword play since he’d been able to walk. Harry had only been a pirate for a few years, so the skill levels shouldn’t even be put into a conversation. He obviously outranked him.

Louis wanted Harry to see that if he had a sword, he’d be able to cut him down faster than he could blink because he  _could_ , not because Harry went easy on him.

With a scowl, Louis folded his arms over his chest, “We can do three rounds.”

What would be better than seeing Harry flat on his ass, helpless and vulnerable because Louis got the better of him  _three_ times?

“Each round ends when you are no longer able to defend yourself, whether it be my sword to your neck or the fact your sword is halfway across the ship deck.” Louis firmly chose, his head giving a single nod to the curly haired captain that chuckled lowly,

“You seem pretty confident there, Princess.”

“Oh, I am.” Louis scoffed before raising his weapon upward, “Now get serious or I swear you’ll regret it.”

Snorting, Harry held out his hands, the handle of Zayn’s cutlass hanging on his fingers, “I am serious. Don’t you know this is my serious face?” The smirk still remained pasted to his features to Louis’s aggravation.

Louis rolled his blue irises and muttered out a low, ‘Fine’ before his feet were taking him ahead.

With each step forward that he took, Harry didn’t appear the least bit on the defensive and when Louis was finally upon him to swing his sword down, he wasn’t surprised when Harry was able to swiftly get a proper hold of his cutlass to block his attack.

The force of his swing obviously hadn’t been what Harry was suspecting and Louis felt the pirate’s stance push back slightly.

Not waiting for Harry to go on offensive, Louis retracted his hand and instead went to aim for Harry’s side. As expected, Harry moved to block him once more, this time his pressure on his sword was a bit stronger to counteract Louis.

Harry pushed against him and Louis simply took a deep breath before ram his hands downward harder.

The curly haired captain’s grip was weakened and his hand was sent sailing down. Louis turned over the cutlass to the handle prior to giving a thrust onto the top of Harry’s hand that clutched his weapon.

Not prepared for the rather rough and sudden move, Harry grunted as his hand flexed, forcing Zayn’s sword out of his grip and onto the floor.

Louis’s foot instantly extended out to it before he kicked the blade and allowed it to go sailing over toward the crates.

Knowing he had to leave a lasting impression on Harry, not just disarming him, Louis allowed his cutlass to twirl in his hands before he slipped his left leg in-between Harry’s two legs and pulled himself closer, his hand was raised to where his sword was at Harry’s throat threateningly. Quickly, to prevent him from pulling away, Louis’s free hand made its way to the back of the pirate’s neck to keep him steady.

The sharpened end barely touched the male’s skin as he grunted lowly.

Louis couldn’t help the smile of satisfaction when his eyes trailed upward to get a view of Harry’s face.

“That’s a cute serious face you have, Princess.” Louis mocked with a slight flip to his hair, his smiling moving to become a full out grin the moment Harry’s gaze slowly moved from the blade at his neck to watch at Louis.

His face was entirely laughable.

Green eyes easily distinguishable with a mix of alarm and surprise, his eyebrows were quirked upward, and his cocky smirk had evaporated into that of a frown.

Louis got the better of him.

This was too good.

“Hey!” He shouted, not moving his cutlass,

If he got the better of Harry Styles, he wasn’t letting this moment go by in just his and Harry’s memories. He needed the whole crew to see. “Can you guys keep score? Round one out of three is over, just so you know. Also, in case you can’t tell,  _I_ won.” He exclaimed with a smirk growing on his lips.

Harry’s expression now appeared to catch itself and he growled lowly before he pulled back from Louis’s grasp roughly.

Louis didn’t put up a fight as he released the curly haired male and lowered the cutlass to his side,

Harry ignored the eyes of his crew as he walked toward the crates where Zayn’s own cutlass had been kicked.

Zayn watched with his own brown eyes widen with nothing but disclosure that was rapidly spreading to all of his facial features.

 “Uh…” Liam unsurely voiced, his boy tensing over to the scene with uncertainty.

“Whoa.” Niall whistled, his eyes blinking several times in shock.

“What the hell just happened!?” Danielle choked out with disbelieving eyes,

Eleanor let out a nervous laugh, her hands humbly placed on her lap, “Go, Lou…” She quietly cheered on with a small shake left and right.

Pleased with himself, Louis turned to the where the crew was watching, and it was apparent now that it wasn’t only the little friend circle, but the pirates from all sides of the bonfire were watching on the situation in disbelief. 

In all honesty, their faces were something that Louis had to resist the urge to laugh at because it was almost as hilarious as Harry’s, though he didn’t think anyone’s expression could measure up to the fallen captain’s.

A snicker escaped his lips while he tried to compose himself. He turned back to Harry as the pirate captain was now beginning to pick his blade up from the floor.

His once surprised face was now composed into that of annoyance.

Harry took a moment to dust off his coat while Louis tapped his foot, “Ready for Round two? We have an audience this time.” He stated before gesturing to the blaze where all of the members of One Direction watched silently.

“Chin up. We aren’t finished yet.” Louis teased, and at that instant he found a cough threatening to peak out from within his chest.

He cursed at whatever would make the sensation arise at that moment of all times and he pushed back the feeling as composed as he could manage.

Harry now picked up his head in favor of watching ahead at Louis silently.

The way he was staring signaled to the brunet that now, Harry was going to be serious so he had to be on the top of his game.

It made sense. Blatantly Harry hadn’t expected him to have any skills with a sword and as Louis predicted, he didn’t keep up much of a defense much less put up an offense. Now that he knew Louis wasn’t exactly an inexperienced fighter… He’d put a bit more effort, if not all of his effort into it now and for the next three rounds.

Louis tried to take a breath to calm his now rapidly thudding heart before he ran forward to take off for the offense once more.

From Liam’s perspective, all that just happened was still difficult to full grasp.

How did Louis have Harry’s cutlass to his neck like that? Since when could Louis hold a sword? What just happened!?

He watched the scene with his eyes unable to turn away.

Louis knew how to  _use_ a sword and he could actually fight back.

Harry wasn’t fighting with his all, but regardless, the fact he could do  _something_  was kind of a shock.

“Eleanor! You knew that was going to happen!”

Liam turned to his right to watch as Danielle gripped Eleanor’s shoulders and began to rock her violently.

The brunette laughed, “I wasn’t too sure! Hahaha! I’m sorry?” She unsurely ended when the female pirate stopped shaking her, “But I told you all, Louis doesn’t talk big if he can’t measure up. He’s actually really good with a sword.”

“Okay, being good with a sword is one thing! Being able to have your sword at Captain Styles’ neck is completely different thing! I can’t believe this! There has to be a mistake because… Uh…” Danielle murmured as she turned to look at Louis and Harry with pursed lips, her shoulders slumped slightly while she gazed on.

“I didn’t see that coming.” Niall truthfully admitted as he leaned ahead to watch the medic that sheepishly stuck her tongue out, it was obvious that she had her suspicions that Louis would win, but what she said from before should have signaled to Liam that Louis was capable.

“You and I both, Nialler. He actually was able to fight off Harry. That’s incredible.” Liam praised, his head rotating back to the sword fight that was still under way.

Liam’s eyes observed both Harry’s and Louis’s movements while the two boys continued their face off.

This time, it appeared it was going to be filing out longer than the last one.

Louis was striking at Harry and the two every so often would clash swords and be at odds with one another, but before the stalemate could be truly broken, Harry would pull away and go into the offensive. Right after Harry’s play to attack, Louis seemingly overpowered him while the two began to move about on the ship from their first station, their hands swinging back and forth at one another’s cutlasses.

The fact alone that Louis was holding his own against Harry was beyond impressive.

But…

As Liam watched Harry’s movements, he knew Harry wasn’t putting his all into the match.

The way his steps were formulated into an amateur stance for defense and the fact that Louis literally had so many openings left vulnerable for attack that the First Mate was more than positive that Harry saw but didn’t act on, signaled he was holding back.

Which was undeniably peculiar.

Harry was humiliated by Louis from being defeated so quickly before… His pride would have made Liam assume that he’d take off his coat and pounce on Louis as he would anyone else.

Perhaps he was planning something?

But what…?

Liam pondered on it before he found his eyes evaluating Louis as the royal and his captain exchanged blows, the metal from their blades leaving a lasting impression into the air along with their grunts and groans of concentration.

His fighting style was similar to Niall’s whenever the former noble and Zayn were sparing. He kept his movements more powerful and blunt. The way he moved his sword was moreover to the front, head on as opposed to Liam and Zayn’s way where they were more fluid and flexible in order to attack at the most unexpected regions of their opponent.

Louis’s hand made a move to slam his cutlass over Harry’s head, but it was deflected by the scowling captain who easily pushed him off before the separated royal huffed tiredly.

Curiously, Liam watched as Louis’s hand flew to his mouth and released a dry cough.

Just as he thought, with a small smile, Liam watched Harry patiently stand at attention, his sword not lowering as he awaited the brunet to cease his coughing and get back to the sparring.

“Oh my god, our Captain is so  _whipped_.” Niall laughed out into his hands,

Liam gave him a push in the rib, “Zayn does the same for you whenever you and him practice so don’t even start.”

The Irishman stuck his tongue out before a finger came to his lip, “Ssshh. He’s sleeping. I wouldn’t want you giving him nightmares about me beating him at practice.”

Liam’s eyebrows quirked upward and he moved to glance over at Zayn, and despite the male’s posture as he sat with his arms folded over his chest, his body slumped toward Niall’s and his head was practically rolling on the blonde’s shoulder.

He literally could sleep anywhere at any time.

Liam rolled his eyes, “Must be getting late if he’s dropping like that now.”

“Probably is. I’m getting sleepy, but I refuse to sleep! I need to see the end of this match!” Danielle chirped from beside him.

Niall chuckled, “Same! I won’t sleep!”

“When you fall asleep don’t complain when I move in between you and Zayn so you two can sleep on me, alright?” Liam disregarded the blonde’s earlier words, causing him to scowl and protest though Liam’s attention was back on duel.

He expected it to end soon… Harry didn’t like wasting time, after all…

The match continued on and on and Liam found himself literally losing track of time.

Neither of the two were letting the other get the upper hand.

Harry had several times to dominate, but he was choosing not to.

The bonfire had been shrinking with the lack of fuel being added to it and people were now beginning to go to bed sleepily.

Confirming Liam’s suspicions, Niall soon found himself slumping into sleep and at that point, Liam was entirely confused on how neither of the two who were fighting were done yet as he pressed himself in between both Niall and Zayn so the two could rest their heads on his shoulder and lap. Danielle herself had fell asleep on Eleanor, and the brunette’s eyes flickered as she struggled to remain awake along with Liam.

Numerous times, Louis had to be stopped to catch his breath, his cough apparently growing worse, and each time Harry paused himself and waited for the royal to come back to the duel.

“Not to be a bother to either of you two, but can we just call this round a draw?” Liam called over to them the moment Louis was off into another coughing fit.

Harry didn’t tear his eyes from Louis and instead after a few moments, Louis glanced over at Liam, his eyes blinking as though he forgot that anyone had been watching the two.

“Uh… How much time has passed?” He questioned in a pant. His hand wiped over a film of sweat that had been making its way over his forehead.

Liam scowled as he tried to shrug his shoulders without disturbing Zayn, “I’d assume a lot since everyone’s basically gone now. You were supposed to have three rounds right? Well, just consider this one a draw and start a new one. You’ll both pass out from exhaustion pretty soon.”

Beside him, Eleanor gave a yawn, “I have medicine for your cough later, Louis.”

The royal’s face contorted up in disgust at the mention of the medicine and he turned to watch ahead at Harry with a huff, “Fine. But it’s so damn hot…”

Harry didn’t make any noise of agreement and instead cracked his neck to the side,

Without a word, the pirate captain shrugged off his overcoat, the material hitting the floorboards with a slight thud. Harry began pulling his shirt off his head with a low breath as he wiped away some of the sweat from his face and watched at Louis expectantly with a wave to his sword.

It took the prince a few seconds to catch himself from staring at Harry’s chest before he shook his head, all the lustful thoughts of his heads going out of his brain.

“I’m not taking off my shirt.” Louis instantly proclaimed, his hands stubbornly patting down his shirt over his front.

The pirate captain gave no sign of care as he stood erectly, his posture almost similar to the one he had from the beginning of their first round of fighting.

Louis found himself growing slightly confused at this.

“Oh!” Liam exclaimed, his tone excited, “Guys! I’ll count down!”

Harry visibly rolled his eyes and Louis stretched his arms in preparation.

“Alright, one… Two… Three… Go!”

At the signal to start, Louis got ready to dash ahead as he had the previous rounds in order to be the first one on the offensive between him and Harry, but as he did so, he found himself grunting in surprise as Harry’s sword was suddenly swinging down in front of his face without warning.

Feeling tired and a bit dazed combined with the fact that he had no real opportunity to brace for the attack; Louis found his grip against Harry’s sword shaking as the male pressed down harder.

He willed himself to stay strong as he turned on his heel away from the male and brought his sword back up, right in time to block another aggressive, and more rough thrust from Harry.

Quicker than ever before, Harry’s sword left Louis’s own cutlass and instead was moving to take a hit at Louis’s side.

Against the better of himself, Louis found himself flinching in a brace for the expected pain, but instead, Harry’s hand maneuvered itself to take a cut downward at his hands. Out of instinct, the royal pulled back, his heart growing alarmed at the fact Harry now seemed to be aiming to really hurt him.

However, as the time previous, Harry’s move was fake and he stopped the cutlass right before it could make contact with Louis’s body.

With squinted eyes, Louis found himself attempting to take several steps backward as it became apparent that Harry’s movements were increasing in speed in an effort to play with his mind and make him block attacks that weren’t even going to happen.

Harry’s face remained stoic the whole time as he continuously followed Louis at the same pace.

The moment Louis felt his back reach a solid wall; he felt his eyes grow wide as he turned around in alarm.

He was at the ship’s edge and the wooden wall stopped him from retreating anymore.

Louis attempted to avert his attention back to Harry to defend himself but he found himself hissing in pain as his hand was roughly hit by the handle of Harry’s cutlass and his own weapon was sent to the floor. Before he could even reach for it, Harry’s foot had the blade sliding across the deck.

Louis gave a grunt as he now found himself looking ahead at Harry’s green eyes that watched him blankly.

“I—“

A stinging sensation arose at the bottom of his chin and it now came to his mind that Harry had his cutlass upward on him, close to digging into his skin.

“Your serious face is cuter, Princess.” Harry remarked simply, his lips pulling into a smirk as Louis watched ahead at him speechlessly.

He lost.

Louis scowled deeply, his eyes cutting away from Harry’s to gaze down at the blade that was still positioned on him.

“As impressed as I am with you, I’m sorry but I’m still the winner.”

The cutlass was dropped on the floor and Harry instead used his hands to blockade Louis against the edge of the ship. With narrowed eyes, Louis gave an uncaring glance behind at the dark and open water below the ship that they sailed on, before he turned back to the pirate captain upon him.

“Oh? I don’t recall you winning the first match. But no, I’m sorry; your serious face was the cutest. You honestly didn’t expect me to know how to hold a sword. You should know better than to underestimate your opponents.” Louis replied, his arms folding over his chest as he stared into Harry’s amused irises.

“If I didn’t lose the first match, then I wouldn’t have been able to properly read over your fighting style the second one. Your swordsmanship is impressive, I’ll admit, but you have so much more work to do on it. You’re too blunt with your attacks. You need to be more evasive and stealthy.” Harry informed while moving his face closer to Louis’s.

So that’s what Harry had been doing the second match… When his eyes were watching over Louis every time they clashed and he had that calculating gaze over his face, he had been observing his way of fighting.

Nodding, Louis leaned more backward, “I think my style is perfect, thank you.”

“I’m only giving you advice, Princess.”

At the moment, Louis was suddenly reminded of Harry’s fading scars.

The last time anyone with a sword came close to marking his face had to have been a while ago. He was one of the best of sword fighting in the pirate world as evident of that, and the fact he was being praised and offered advice from him was actually pretty useful if Louis ever had another encounter with a rouge pirate like last time—

Suddenly, he found himself growing a bit surprised at his thoughts.

Louis was seriously getting accustomed to thinking this was his new life… He was even thinking about future encounters with other pirates because his mind seriously had it adjusted that he wasn’t leaving any time soon.

As Louis gazed up at Harry’s face, the curly haired captain’s expression was still entirely good-natured.

His smirk at this point wasn’t of superiority, and instead appeared of light teasing.

“So, how many times has the Prince of the Seven Seas been bested in sword fighting by a frail and delicate royal?” Louis tried to stray the topic away from the thoughts beginning to cloud his head.

Harry flipped his hair, a grin beginning to rise to his face as he moved his face closer to Louis, “Only once.” The words came out as mere whisper as Harry’s lips pressed against his firmly.

Louis kept himself still as Harry dipped his head down toward him more powerfully, but the male paused the moment they heard Liam’s voice from behind,

“Don’t mind me guys, I’m just trying to move these four sleeping pirates to bed! Just carry on like I’m not here! I’m not even looking!”

Visibly, Harry rolled his eyes before he returned his attention to kissing Louis.

**Chapter 23.**

“Okay, I think that’s enough!” Louis gasped out as he pulled his head backward. Harry’s lips persisted after him and just as Louis found himself with no way to escape the brunet’s advances, he squirmed one of his hands up to separate both of their faces.

His palm was put in the direction of Harry’s face while Louis huffed, his eyes fleeting down below behind him at the pitch black ocean water where he could hear the water churning from the steadily moving ship.

He hadn’t been the one to initiate the kiss but he damn well sure would be the one to end it before his head got lost in the stupid moment.

Harry’s lips on his felt like some sort of strange sensation going through his body. It felt heart pumping whenever it happened and Louis found his body clenching to just extend his arms over the male’s back to pull him closer and further go into the kiss. The urge was strong and nearly overwhelming.

It vaguely reminded Louis of his own dream from earlier. His body wanted to just grab and take from Harry because of the impressions it left on him. That was evident and clear to Louis now because even now, his lips were still tingling and he heard a part of his brain begging him to throw himself back at Harry for another kiss.

But Louis had self control.

He wasn’t so ignorant to  _not_ know when his body’s hormones were going out of line.

For that, he had to make sure he stopped before something happened that he wouldn’t want later.

Harry’s smile from earlier dropped as he watched at Louis blankly, no emotion written on his expression to signal to the royal what he was thinking.

Slowly, Louis scowled lightly his back relaxing from its arch by the ship’s ledge while he flicked his wrist in a gesture to make Harry back away, “You’re still sweating.” He informed in mild disgust, his eyes bouncing up from the younger male’s bare chest.

Harry cringed at him, “Oh, like you’re any better, Princess.” He remarked before pulling himself away.

The pirate captain began moving toward his pile of fallen of clothes several feet away and Louis took that time to run a hand through his hair, which was as sweaty as Harry commented on.

Both of them were out here for a while if Liam’s earlier words were any clue.

Now really looking over the bonfire area, everything was still set up, except for the fire that had once burned so brightly was now dimming down into a small light.

Louis moved to pick up Harry’s cutlass that had been taken from his grasp in favor of sliding toward the farther end of the ship, near the stairs that he knew led to the upper deck where the wheel to navigate the ship was.

He bent down to retrieve the item and his eyes gazed over it without much care. The feel of it was generally more light weight than the sword he’d typically use in his practice, but it was sturdier than he originally anticipated it to be.

His mind wondered exactly how many lives had been ended with the weapon.

Its steel was clean aside from countless scratch marks but Louis knew better. Harry had murdered more people than Louis would like to admit with the blade, he was after all, the Prince of the CrimsonSea, a namesake that was given to him because of the amount of blood he could make appear in the ocean from his defeated enemies.

Louis’s eyes glanced upward toward the other end of the ship where Harry had already put back on his shirt and was now placing his overcoat back on his body.

When he thought about it, it was probably strange to the others on the crew for Harry to have  _really_ let Louis just take his weapon from him like that.

The thoughts of him being something different in the captain’s eyes came to him once more, but he tried to brush it off.

It set off a weird feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about Harry in that kind of light.

It was odd.

Harry had more than one face.

There was Captain Styles, the man every sailor who traveled came to know as the most ruthless and deadly pirate to dominate the seas. The man who Louis could easily say was responsible for his four day torture session that he rather not remember.

There was Harry Styles, the young man that was constantly smirking and going about with the arrogant face on that most of his older friends and ship mates had come to know and mysteriously enough, admire. The young man, Louis had the displeasure of spending a majority of his time on One Direction with.

And then there was just plain ole Harry… A  _boy_ , vulnerable and protected by the veils that were Captain Styles and Harry Styles. Harry was shown to Louis more than once and each instance hadn’t been very long, though he was willing to bet that less people than he could count on his hands had seen him.

“What’s your problem?” Harry questioned with furrowed brows as he approached the still standing royal that eyed him silently.

Louis caught himself in his staring and bit his bottom lip anxiously, his blue eyes glancing away instantly before he shook his head, “Nothing. Here’s your sword.” He curly stated while he extended his hand out to give the captain the cutlass.

Harry blinked, his hand still grasping hold of Zayn’s before he shrugged his shoulders, “Hold it for me.” He commanded airily.

The prince found his confusion heightening at this, but prior to him questioning why, Harry was brushing past him to walk up the stairs to the upper deck.

Eyebrows knitting down in further bewilderment, Louis watched up at the curly haired male as he got to the top and glanced down at Louis impatiently, “Going to stand there looking cute all night or are you going to follow?”

Instantly rolling his eyes, Louis gave a loud groan of annoyance before he began walking upward to the upper floor of the ship.

The area ahead was vast and got a bit more wind than the general deck.

Running a hand through his hair, the brunet had to appreciate the cool breeze on his still heated skin from earlier. His eyes watched all around in the dark, it was still practically pitch black up there given the fact the small light from the fire below didn’t reach there.

Harry started to the two men at the wheel that were talking animatedly and after a few seconds both of them both nodded off at him before they turned and began approaching the stairs.

Louis side stepped out of their way while he watched Harry take control of the wheel with puzzlement still within him.

“What are you doing?” He found himself asking as he got to the captain’s side.

The pirate captain snorted, “Tell me, what does it look like?”

Irritation threatening to surface on him, Louis scoffed, “Enjoying a nice lobster dinner.” He sarcastically pitched making Harry chuckle.

“I’m making them pack up the bonfire stuff. Obviously I don’t want us going off course so I’m taking over the wheel.” Harry answered simply causing Louis to nod in understanding, his eyes glancing out into the darkness ahead.

“How do you even know you’re going the right way? A compass, right?”

Harry nodded in confirmation while the prince casually folded his arms over his chest,

The two fell into a silence right after.

With a sigh, Louis found his gaze lasting outward.

If this was the future of his life and he wasn’t going to leave the ship, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

He and Harry were getting along better, he made a couple new friends on top of being with Eleanor, and he didn’t have to truly worry about dying.

Of course, the thoughts of home probably wouldn’t leave him any time soon, it was still better than being placed in a completely horrid situation… It could be a lot worse.

When the two men arrived back up and resumed their position at the wheel, Louis found himself blinking in curiosity as Harry beckoned him over to the edge of the ship.

The captain took position on the ledge, his arms resting on top of the wood with a blank look out over into the dark. Louis followed in suit, his eyes gazing at the black almost expectantly for something to just appear.

“I haven’t actually told you about myself, have I?” Harry’s voice broke the silence amongst them.

It now came to Louis’s attention that Harry didn’t know that he knew about his past. Back when he had been at the bonfire and they finished Harry’s story and the pirate captain showed up, they all lied and said they had been saying Danielle’s.

“No, not really.” Louis lowly answered, his eyes inching away from the other’s face.

He supposed it’d be interesting to hear about Harry’s story from the captain’s own mouth, even if he knew it’d probably be sadder that way.

“Alright, ask me anything and I’ll answer it as truthfully as I can.” He remarked with an exhale, his body leaning on the ledge more comfortably.

Not ready for the sudden conversation starter, Louis turned to look at Harry in surprise. The male shrugged his shoulders when he noticed Louis’s gaze before he cleared his throat, “Afterwards, I can do the same with you.”

Louis nodded his head slowly, his hand clutching the slippery wood beneath his fingers in apprehension.

He couldn’t exactly think of anything to ask him without it getting too personal or awkward between them…

Apparently, his hesitation made Harry impatient and the captain groaned loudly, “I’ll start then. At what age did you lose your virginity, and don’t lie because we  _both_ know you weren’t a virgin when you stepped on this ship.” Harry’s eyes twinkled deviously as Louis found a hand slapping to his mouth in astonishment.

“Where the hell did that question come from!?” He demanded in disbelief,

Harry hummed tunelessly, “Not a proper answer, Princess.”

Rolling his eyes and attempting to fight back the embarrassment threatening to overtake his senses, Louis gave a deep breath before he mumbled, “I was 17…” He reluctantly settled on answering, he tried to wipe away the thoughts of the rather awkward night from his mind as Harry snorted.

“The girl must have really been something, huh? Was she your fiancée? Does royalty always wait so long before letting you get set up with someone?”

The questions came out forcefully and were mixed with a hint of hostility, though Louis wasn’t sure if he was just hearing things or not.

Louis hung his head shamefully, “First of all, it wasn’t a girl. I didn’t have a fiancée and it depends on the ruling parents. My parents were waiting I guess, before letting me into an arranged marriage. I don’t know why.” He honestly replied.

“ _Wasn’t_ a girl? Who was this guy?” Harry’s eyebrow shot up as he fully turned to Louis in curiosity, “I _know_ the Crown would not allow you to be set up with another male.”

When Louis awkwardly glanced away, Harry apparently put two and two together before he let out a dry humored chuckle, “The Princess was being a naughty royal.”

“It just  _happened_. I won’t go into details, it’s a long story and I admit I’m ashamed about it… But at the same time it helped me realize my true sexuality, so please just drop it.” He firmly said with a shake to his head.

Harry gave a crooked smile, “I doubt anyone knows about this.”

“Only me, him, Eleanor, and now you.”

“I’ll take the secret to my grave, Princess. I wouldn’t want your reputation going downhill or anything horrible like that.”

“Not funny.” Louis blankly retorted, his eyes moving to glare at the pirate captain who appeared entirely amused.

Harry shook his head, “Next question. What made you so agile with a sword?” He gestured to the cutlass still in the male’s grip.

Louis licked his lips with a glance at the sword, “Oh, I’ve been practicing with fencing and swordsmanship since I was old enough to walk. Since I was of royal blood even though my dad wasn’t even power then, I was still trained to be the perfect man.” He shrugged his shoulders.

The curly haired brunet nodded slowly, his eyes evaluating Louis with a more predatory emotion that caused the royal to go rigid beneath his gaze, “It worked. Aside from your sassy mouth that is.”

With a roll to his eyes, Louis shook his head, “I wonder when standing up for myself suddenly made me sassy. But it hardly worked out. It stressed me to no end. Having to stay on top of my studies and knowing all this etiquette stuff put a strain on me.”

“Oh, did you ever get a break?”

“Hah. I wish. Whenever I gave myself a break, I got the discipline rod to my face, back, and bum. If I wasn’t perfect with what I did, my instructor would sometimes make me stay up all night until what I did was perfected. I admit, I got time off, but it was only when I got what I had to done earlier than expected. When I got that time off, it used to be pure heaven because I had freedom. I usually went out to sit with Eleanor in rose gardens or played pranks on my sisters with one another. Haha, this one time I got Eleanor to play with me against them and it was so much fun when we completely destroyed their room even if the maids got angry with us and,” He paused himself in the middle of his rant to give Harry a look to gauge his reaction,

Unlike what he expected, Harry didn’t appear annoyed or bored in the slightest. The male’s face watched at Louis with an emotion of pure interest and wonder, his eyes watching Louis in anticipation for him to continue.

Suddenly finding himself flustered under the pirate’s gaze, Louis smiled tensely, “I’m rambling. Sorry, I have a habit of that.”

“No, no. It’s fine. It’s interesting. The maids got angry and then what happened?” Harry urged simply.

Louis smiled diminutively, his hands falling to his sides, “Nothing too serious. My mum heard about it and she banned my sisters and I from visiting the kitchen unsupervised indefinitely. We still did though because we were friends with the staff and we just promised to never use their flour or eggs for evil again.”

“That sounds like you had fun times even with the bad.” Harry acknowledged with a look up to the night sky.

Unable to deny it, Louis nodded, “Yeah, I did… But now that I’m out here with everyone else, outside of the bubble, I guess living in the palace wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.”

Visibly, Harry stiffened and Louis found himself continuing before the other could speak, “It’s harder to live a shielded life and then have all of these truths of reality shoved in your face than to always live with reality on your shoulders. I know, it’s been hard for you from the beginning, Harry but since I’ve been out here, it’s more than a single slap in the face to see everything I’ve been seeing. It’s almost not real, but I know it is…”

“It gets better.” Harry muttered out, “Trust me. God has a funny way of working out with these things. In the end, everything will work out.”

Without any other words to say, Louis sighed, “With that aside, it’s my turn to ask questions.”

Harry’s lips cracked into a grin and Louis gave a small smirk.

“When did you lose your virginity and with who?”

The pirate ran his hands through his hair with a small chuckle, “I saw that coming.”

“Good. Answer.” Louis shortly countered.

“I was 15 and it was with a member of Lionheart.” He simply answered with a shrug to his shoulders, “Fortunately, when you’re a pirate you have no dirty secrets, unlike you. Naughty Princess.” He added in with a smirk that made Louis give an exasperated moan.

“Okay, what’s one thing you absolutely cannot leave the ship without and why?” The question wasn’t very personal, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

Harry seemed to pause and ponder on it before he shrugged, “I usually go with my hat because it has my family’s gemstones on them or at least, it has the one’s that belonged to my mother and sister. Mine is on their memorial stone.” He stated easily.

Louis gave a bit of a halt at the sudden answer and it came back to mind how Harry had given him the hat when they were back out in Ireland…

When Liam had questioned him on wearing Harry’s hat, he had made it seem like the hat had more significance than he originally thought. So that was why…

But why had Harry let him wear it if it had meaning?

“And you let  _me_ wear it?” Louis softly inquired; he didn’t even know why he was pursuing into this topic.

Harry gave a deep breath his hands moving over his face tiredly, “Yeah… I did. I thought it’d mean something, but we both remember what happened and I know it didn’t mean anything. So just don’t even worry about it.”

The royal bit his bottom lip.

He didn’t want to bring that back up.

A bit of silence fell over the two of them and Louis became a bit more aware of how cold it was suddenly becoming. The wind blew over them, creating a slight whistle in Louis’s ear as he gave Harry a glance from the corner of his eye.

Wanting to take away the awkwardness place in the current situation, he slowly allowed his hand to move out to cautiously touch the curly haired captain’s hand.

Harry’s hand froze instantly, but Louis firmly took hold of it in his own. The hand holding was quite possibly one of the most uncomfortable things ever, but he tried to blow past that as he spoke.

“What’s your favorite animal?”

Harry cocked his head to the side, clearly not ready for such a random question.

He turned to look at Louis his lips pressed into a firm line, “I really have a fondness for cats.” He stated, and Louis could feel the pirate’s fingers slowly beginning to settle in his grasp.

The two glanced down at their intertwined hands before Louis released him, “Cats? Wow. Why?” He quickly questioned, his feet inching away from the younger male that shrugged, slight aggravation on his features,

Harry moved closer, filling in the gap Louis was trying to create, “What’s not to like?”

“I guess.” Louis muttered with a yawn.

He could now begin to feel the fatigue in his body starting to catch up on him. After all of that fighting he’d done and the fact his lung still weren’t at the top of their game, he could feel himself giving into his brain’s signals.

Harry leaned over to watch him curiously, “You’re sleepy?”

“Yeah—WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?” Louis roared out in alarm as he found his whole perspective of the world over turning, his feet were swept from the floor as Harry hefted him over to place over his shoulder so incredibly fast and strongly that he could have thrown up in surprise and nausea.

“Carrying you to bed, Princess. No need to shout. You’ll wake everyone up.” Harry smoothly answered as he started walking toward the stairs.

Louis immediately began to struggle from his humiliating place on the younger male’s body. He hadn’t expected Harry to actually be strong enough to lift up his body weight like that, much less toss him over his shoulder.

His shock ran away into fury as he squirmed while Harry stepped downward. Each step feeling as though Louis would go tumbling towards the floor, “Put me the hell down now!” He demanded harshly, “This isn’t funny!”

“Well, I know that. Neither of us are laughing after all.”

“Harry—“

“You had a wet dream about me.”

Even when his life seemed to be growing easier, Harry always made everything so difficult.

**Chapter 24.**

Louis woke up rather slowly that morning.

For some reason, the bed he slept in felt more comfortable than it had when he had first been tossed on it the night previous by Harry.

Thankfully enough, the pirate captain had gone and fitted on the new, cleaner sheets without anymore teasing on the subject of why the sheets were dirty in the first place. It was already obvious he knew  _why_ the sheets had been bundled in the corner, but Louis felt a bit more secure in the fact that Harry didn’t bring it up again.

The ordeal was embarrassing enough to remember.

He and Harry still talked while Harry worked on making up the bed for him. Louis had stood off to the wall and found himself conversing back with the brunet that nearly appeared like a different person with the talk they shared.

Louis found himself learning more and more about the pirate captain that he had a feeling more than half the crew onboard had no clue about.

The uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere he shared with Harry had slowly began to ease up with that and for once when Louis went to bed, he had a dream he could actually remember that wasn’t completely bittersweet.

Perhaps he was going mad? Perhaps the salt water was getting to him?

Either way, he knew that the moment he had a dream where he and Harry were sitting together and smiling and laughing like they were best friends meant that he needed to reevaluate how he saw the younger male.

It was still early, or at least with the way the light angled into the porthole within the room showed Louis that it couldn’t have been too late into the morning.

With his fever from the night previous practically gone and the pain in his arm nonexistent, it was easy to say he felt way better than he had yesterday.

Maybe that was the reason the mattress seemed at the softest it had ever been at since his time onboard?

His thoughts broke at the sound of the door opening.

Immediately, he tried to brush the stray pieces of hair from his face as he sat up with an expectant look at the entrance to the room.

The moment Harry walked in, Louis found himself breathing out a sigh lowly.

“Well, good morning to you too.” Harry narrowed his eyes to the royal while walking across the room toward the rack on the wall that held his hat up. He didn’t have on neither his boots nor overcoat as per usual and Louis was able to deduce that the captain had just woken up and was coming into the room for the first time in the morning.

Louis shook his head, “Yeah, good morning.” He muttered beneath his breath before he removed the sheets from over his body to move his feet over the side of the bed.

He reached to grab his boots and he felt the edge of the mattress sink as Harry took a seat.

Weakly, Louis attempted to speak in order to break any potential tension that could arise between them, “So another day at sea…” It was pathetically worded and he knew Harry would mock him for trying to start a conversation in that fashion.

“Hm?” Harry hummed out in his distracted tone, though Louis knew better.

That didn’t mean that the strange air around them wasn’t settling over.

Louis was by no means socially awkward; in fact back at the palace he prided himself in being able to charm and communicate with virtually anyone that appeared shy or closed, Eleanor was a shining example of that. But it seemed that whenever it came to Harry, everything was put into a different outlook.

Especially with how their current relationship was.

How could you even be friends with someone who technically kidnapped you?

Louis was definitely going mad.

“I said, so another day at sea. I mean, I know it’s typical of pirating life and all, but I’m just saying.” His words were forced and halfway through he wondered why he was even talking, “Forget it, I’m just talking without thinking.”

“Yeah, you have a habit of that.” Harry remarked with a shake to his head as he got up from the bed. He began fitting his coat on and Louis scowled, but before he could counter Harry flashed him a crooked grin, “It’s charming in a way.”

Whatever words he had prepared to shoot out were suddenly lost.

It took him a couple seconds to realize he was still staring at Harry, and he hoped to God his expression hadn’t been too laughable while he gawked at the pirate captain. Louis turned away, his focus returning to his shoes that were already properly adjusted.

“Interesting.” He half-heartedly replied, repeating the singular phrase that the pirate captain had a tendency to state in reply to some of Louis’s own statements. His face had a feeling of a burn to them as he felt Harry’s gaze remain zeroed in on him.

Harry snorted, his feet moving him over to the other side of the bed in order to take a seat beside the royal, “Not really.” Harry honestly said, within his hands was his hat while he kicked his feet at the floorboards absentmindedly, “How did you sleep last night?”

The question was random and the simple fact it was on his wellbeing made a strange feeling churn in Louis’s stomach.

He tried to stay casual.

“I slept alright.” He settled on firmly, his eyes dancing over to watch the hat in Harry’s grasp.

Harry smirked widely, “Did you dream of me—“

“You ask  _me_ a lot of questions, Harry. What about you? How did  _you_ sleep?” Louis quickly intervened, his arms folding over his chest as he turned in the direction of the younger male.

The forcefulness of his words clearly had some sort of impact on Harry as his eyebrow cocked upward in what appeared to be a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

In actuality, Louis had to keep in mind that he had no clue where Harry even slept. So hearing about how the captain went through his nights had a bit of stir in the royal’s curiosity. Harry had to have been sleeping somewhere that wasn’t in his own room after all.

Louis shrugged his shoulders uncaringly in response to Harry’s doubt before the pirate captain mirrored the action; his hat was set to rest on his lap while he leaned back on his hands leisurely.

“Slept pretty well. The Captain honestly breathed.

“Where do you even sleep?” Louis inquired almost immediately after the short answer.

This appeared to take Harry by surprise as his eyes widened ever so slightly before they settled down, masking any form of emotion in them while Louis continued staring at him, “Well?” He impatiently said when it appeared that Harry was just stuck on staring at him.

Blinking, Harry gaze didn’t cease, “You care?” His tone was flat and nearly disinterested, but as always, Louis knew better.

“Well, obviously if I’m asking.”  He truthfully replied, “I’ve been sleeping in your bed from the beginning. I’m just a bit curious as to where you’ve been sleeping. On the floor or something?”

When put into thought, he knew Harry had way too much pride to put himself to sleep on the floor in favor of giving Louis his own bed. Harry had to have been going to sleep in a secret bed or something similar.

If Louis remembered right, there weren’t any extra rooms, which was why Eleanor had been put to share a room with Danielle in the beginning.  

Harry seemed entirely hesitant to answer the question and that made Louis a bit suspicious.

Bluntly, the royal put a hand to his chin, “It can’t possibly be that serious. Unless you’re part demon and spend your nights in hell, I don’t think telling me should be a problem.”

The pirate captain snorted instantly, “I’m not part demon. I’m full-blooded demon. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

“Stop changing the subject. Where do you sleep?”

“Princess, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you just don’t care… I’d say you’re  _concerned_. What brought this on?” Harry taunted with a growing grin to his face.

Louis’s lips pursed in indignation, “You’re getting ridiculous over a simple question.”

“Am I?”

“I don’t see what’s so difficult about answering.”

The curly haired captain looked just about ready to say something in retort, but Louis intensified his warning glare on the brunet to show that he wasn’t joking around. Harry paused at this before sighing heavily and shrugging his shoulders, an uncaring expression flashing over his features while he gazed away, “With Zayn.”

The words came out ever so easily and for a moment, Louis had trouble deciphering if he heard right.

He blinked his eyes and leaned forward, “Excuse me?”

That made no sense whatsoever.

Niall had told him that he, Zayn, and Liam all alternated between sleeping with one another every night to keep things balanced in their relationship.

If Harry was sleeping with Zayn, then that meant that Niall had been lying? And Niall wouldn’t do that.

“I best be going out to help outside. We should be docking not too long from now.” Harry simply remarked, not giving Louis any attention as he rose off of the bed.

Louis’s eyebrows scrunched downward in confusion as he stood up along with the younger male who began his way to the door, “No, Harry. How can you be sleeping with Zayn? That doesn’t make sense.”

As Harry made it past the door and into his study room, he slipped his hat on his head and didn’t give the following prince a second glance.

From his position trailing beside him, Louis could see that there was truly no sign of a smirk or a grin on the pirate’s face but that didn’t say anything considering that Harry was known to kid around with the most serious expression ever. Louis had no clue if this was a joke or not.

But it had to be considering his information on Niall and all.

Not only that, Zayn was with both Liam and Niall so why would he share a bed with Harry anyways?

“Fine then, you little shit. Keep ignoring me then.” Louis hissed out after the two made it out on deck. It was apparent that Harry didn’t plan on stopping and clearing up anything with Louis when he began going about his daily captain routine of ensuring everything was running smoothly for the morning.

Louis simply stopped his steps and turned his attention to the waters they were surrounded by. His steps moved toward the edge of the ship where he glanced out to the sea wistfully.

Harry had said something about docking soon… If he looked out forward hard enough, past the light fog up ahead maybe he’d catch sight of something.

“Hey, Princess!”

The dreaded nickname that appeared to have grown as a normal for a majority of the crew aside from namely Liam, Niall, and Eleanor probably wouldn’t ever leave the mouths of the rest of the crew much to Louis’s aggravation.

He turned over his shoulder to see Danielle bounding over to him, within her hands were two boxes and on her face was a bright smile, one that made the royal’s eyebrows furrow in bemusement.

The female pirate grinned up at him as she stopped her steps, “You look like you’re in a good mood.” She acknowledged teasingly.

Louis shrugged, “Shockingly, I was in a better one until the Captain completely took it down.”

Danielle gave a chuckle that made Louis shake his head before she dropped her boxes to her feet to gaze out into the ocean with him, “I fell asleep before the end of your match with Captain Styles… But would it be completely dumb of me to assume you actually won?”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Louis leaned forward on the ledge, “Assume whatever you want. I don’t care. You saw that I can hold my own against him already and that’ll be enough until I challenge him to a rematch…”

“A rematch? Ohh. So maybe I should apologize for underestimating you earlier.” The brunette offered a slightly sheepish, but overall good-natured smile his way and Louis found himself able to return the beam with a nod,

“It’s alright. I guess I can see why you’d think I didn’t know how to use a sword.” He admitted simply before Danielle sighed heavily, “Yeah, but as a pirate I should know better than to underestimate _anyone_. I mean, I’m a girl already and I already get that enough.”

Curiously, Louis turned to face the female as she glanced out into the water more intently, “There aren’t exactly a large number of female pirates out there. I mean, we’re not totally rare, but there’s so little of us already out there to the point where it’s not uncommon for some other male pirates to sneer at us and all.”

Louis cocked a brow, “You’re discriminated against even as a pirate?”

“Not discriminated,” She held up a knowledgeable finger with a twirl to her locks, “More like, underestimated to the extreme. They think because I’m a girl I’m afraid of getting some blood on my trousers even though I’ve probably taken down more men in a single raid than they could ever hope to take down in their lives.” Danielle folded her arms over her chest with a huff.

It was understandable that that was the case, but Danielle was a part of Harry’s crew, that alone should tell offenders that she wasn’t someone to take lightly…

“Some pirates are such idiots.” Louis snorted out making Danielle nod before her fist was suddenly hitting Louis in the shoulder.

Unprepared for the attack, the royal’s hand shot to where he had been hit as the pirate grinned at him, “So, I’m properly apologizing for being so hypocritical before! Just because you’re royalty and all, I guess I shouldn’t automatically assume stuff about you.”

Rubbing his shoulder with squinted eyes, Louis nodded his head, “That’s your way of apologizing?”

Danielle laughed, “Toughen up, Princess! My way of apologizing to the people I have to show tough love to!”

Louis prepared to retort something at her, when he paused.

Obviously, Danielle was warming up to him and she was pretty close enough to Zayn as it was, so maybe he could ask…

“Danielle, out of curiosity, do you know if Zayn shares his room with anyone aside from Liam and Niall?” He tried to vaguely question.

Danielle took in the sudden question with a blink to her eyes before she slowly shook her head, “Eh, not that I know of… I mean, from what Liam tells me, Zayn is a shitty sleeper and takes up so much of the bed it’s hard to have more than one other person on a bed with him. That’s why those three always rotate who sleeps with whom… Why do you ask?”

So he had back-up on his theory that Harry and Zayn didn’t share a bed.

“What’s the extent to Zayn and Harry’s relationship, if you don’t mind me asking you?” Louis ignored her countered question and Danielle didn’t appear to take much notice to the fact before she shrugged her shoulders.

“That, I’d probably never be able to tell you. They’re extremely close; I can tell you that but Zayn and Harry are the two most closed up people onboard so I can’t necessarily describe their relationship to you or anything.”

Her words made Louis a bit crestfallen but before he could fully think of an alternative to this defeat, Danielle was speaking once more.

“I mean, it’s no secret that the two fucked once upon a time, so calling them good friends may be putting it light…”

…

Louis found himself about to choke on his spit at the sudden words given to his ears as he turned to Danielle completely wide eyed. The brunette appeared oblivious to the shock that her speech brought to the royal as she thoughtfully kept her hand to her chin.

“They did _what—“_

“Danielle! Get the fuck over here, you lazy ass! We’re not done moving the boxes!”

Danielle cringed at the calling to her name while whipping her head over her shoulder, “Who the fuck are you calling lazy ass!? I do way more work than you, fucking twat!” Grunting, she moved downward to pick up the two boxes on the ground into her arms before giving Louis a sigh, “Sorry, duty calls.”

“No, wait! Before you go, did Zayn and Harry really, erm, I…” Louis found himself trailing off rather pathetically as Danielle’s back disappeared down to one of the lower decks, her figure bouncing while she shouted at the crew member who ranted off at her.

Now, apparently he learned something new about both Zayn and Harry.

Danielle wouldn’t just lie to him like that, would she? There was absolutely no reason for her to anyhow…

Zayn and Harry shared a bed and the two of them were having sex.

It strangely made sense but at the same time it didn’t.

Zayn was with Liam and Niall. Zayn had gotten upset at Louis for ‘messing’ with Harry’s heart.

The two of them were always so close though, the more Louis thought about it.

Why was this topic even circulating throughout his head? He shouldn’t even care… But he knew a part of him no matter how insignificant  _did_ care for some odd reason.

Knowing he’d have to clear his head, he began his way down to the lower deck.

He could go talk to Eleanor to get his mind off of this rather peculiar topic.

When he reached Danielle and Eleanor’s room, he was a bit surprised to see Eleanor in there with a few other crew members, all of them sat on the floor in a circle with cards all spread out amongst them.

Confused, Louis halted at the door, “Uhm…” He unsurely voiced out with furrowed eyebrows.

Eleanor glanced over her shoulder to view Louis and when she spotted him, she smiled with an excited wave, “Hey, Lou!” She greeted happily causing the royal to cautiously leave the door a bit more open while he walked in slowly,

“Good morning, El…”

As she turned back to the game, Louis cleared his throat, “So… What exactly are you doing…?”

“We’re teaching her how to play a card game, Princess.”

“It was bloody fucking ridiculous how the poor gal had no clue how to even shuffle a deck of cards!”

“Well, at least now she knows! I’m such a good teacher, right El?”

Eleanor giggled wildly, “Right! Don’t even think I’m going to lose this round either, Josh. I think I finally got the hang of this~” She sang out confidently before pushing out one of her cards to the center of the circle.

All the men gave a chorus of ‘Ooohs’ from her play before Louis unsurely took a seat on the bed to watch.

How is it that shy, sweet, and innocent little Eleanor was seriously in a room  _alone_ with all these men? As far as Louis could remember, Danielle was always attached to the girl’s hip every time they were on the ship, but now she was seriously willing to be locked up in a single area with them?

Wasn’t she scared?

One look at his friend’s amused expression as she slipped down another card signaled to Louis that it was exactly the opposite… She looked genuinely happy.

His gaze softened down at her considerably. He was happy for her. Having Eleanor constantly in fear and anxiety wasn’t something he wanted. If she found herself comfortable on the ship and even making new friends, he had to give it to her.

“Okay, so I didn’t win this round. Can we play again, please?” She questioned with a pout when their game finally came to an end.

The men laughed and Josh shrugged his shoulders with a grin, “Why not?” He then turned his attention up to Louis, “You wanna join?” He offered out.

Louis found his eyes widening in surprise as everyone’s notice flashed up to him expectantly.

The royal’s eyes flickered to Eleanor who smiled at him warmly as though showing she’d support his answer no matter what it’d be.

Shrugging, Louis glanced away, “No, thanks.”

“Pft. He’s too good to play a card game with us.”

A few chimes of agreement filed after this statement and Louis didn’t even stop himself from rolling his eyes.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to play exactly… He didn’t want to look like an idiot because the only card game he knew to play was the one that Niall had taught him a while back when Louis had been evading Harry.

“Don’t say that.” Eleanor defended with a scolding glare at the one who spoke up, “If he doesn’t want to play, he doesn’t want to. Don’t be rude!”

“She’s right, mate. Don’t be such a cunt about it.” Josh leisurely added in, he glanced at Louis and gave the male a supportive nod before turning his attention back to the game, “So what should we play now—“

A rap came to the side of the room entrance and immediately everyone was glancing up to see who was there.

Liam stood pointedly, “We’re scheduled to be docked up at the port within the next five minutes, lads. Start packing it up and get ready to head off if you want to. Captain says we’re not staying here for more than a few hours.”

Instantly, everyone was up and gathering themselves out the room until it was only Eleanor and Louis left.

Liam fully entered the room with a smile Louis’s way, “You were getting along with the other crew members. That’s real good!”

Slipping his hands in his pockets, Louis shrugged, “I think Eleanor had more luck with that than me actually.” He gave his friend a grin, “She’s a social butterfly now.”

Blushing, Eleanor shook her head with her eyes suddenly pasted to her feet, “Not really. I was hanging out and helping Danielle and Niall earlier this morning and I met up with Josh and then he offered to show me how to play cards. The other guys aren’t scary at all! They’re all actually kind of nice! Loud… But nice.” She smiled sweetly at Liam, who chuckled,

“That’s our crew for you. We’re like a big family! Nice to see you adjusting better too, Eleanor. Do you plan on coming out to the town with Danielle, Zayn, Niall, and I? Danielle told me to ask you so the moment we dock we can go off together since Harry’s only stopping here fast.”

Eleanor hummed while glancing down at her clothing, “Well, I guess this is acceptable to go out in? Sure! I just hope with Niall here with us, Zayn and Dani won’t try going into those places again…”

The First Mate of One Direction cringed, “Let’s hope.” He paused before giving Louis an apologetic look, “I… Uhm… If you want, I think Harry may let—“

“Let’s not kid ourselves, Liam.” Louis sighed out with his arms folding over his chest, “We both know Harry isn’t letting me off this ship, so I won’t even bother.”

“You never know. We thought he wouldn’t let you off the first time, but he still did. Even if he doesn’t show it, he really likes it when you’re happy, you know.” Liam stated to the royal that scowled though he said nothing else on the subject.

Eleanor gave Louis a smile, “If you want, we can get you something from the city if you want?”

As they began walking out, Louis tried to think, “Well, if you got me some new clothes that’d be great.” He settled on simply.

The three made it out on deck from below, and seeing the surrounding land around gave Louis a slight chill to his spine…

The ship was slowing to a near crawl as the crew members onboard appeared to all be at work at stopping the ship in place properly.

“Niall!” Liam called out to the blonde Irishman that was now exiting Harry’s quarters.

Niall glanced upward and grinned the moment he saw the three with a wave. He made his way toward them excitedly, “Haz said we’ll have about three hours out in the city! It’ll be so much fun! Feels like forever since I’ve been on dry land!”

“Haz?” Louis repeated in amusement, “I think before you called him Hazza?” Louis questioned.

Liam snickered, “Yeah, Niall, Zayn, and I call him that. It gets him really annoyed. But we think it’s cute and it sort of fits him in a way.”

Nodding slowly, Louis replayed the words in his mind, storing them for future reference.

“By the way, where is Zayn?” Liam curiously inquired to Niall who blinked, “Oh, he’s with the Captain in his study! They were talking about something private so they asked me to step out.” He shrugged his shoulders and at that moment, Louis was abruptly reminded of the earlier scenario with both Zayn and Harry.

His lips formulated into a frown and he gazed over at both Niall and Liam.

“Yeah, about Zayn and Harry…” He began out gradually, earning the attention of the two male pirates, and even Eleanor. Louis gave a small breath before starting again, “They’re just close friends, right?”

“Yup!” Niall’s answer was instant, however Liam observantly eyed Louis, “ _Just_? What are you suggesting? You think there’s more or something?”

“No, no.” Louis quickly denied, “I mean, Zayn is really protective of Harry for some odd reason and I was just wondering, really.”

His answer didn’t seem to entirely appease Liam who watched him with analyzing eyes whereas Niall added in, “The two of them have a pretty good friendship. They’re like literally best mates, not to mention Zayn has a lot of respect for Harry. Probably more than Liam and I.”

But best mates didn’t have sex with each other.

Louis wasn’t so sure if it’d be best to bring that fact up around both Niall  _and_ Liam because if he slipped something out that he shouldn’t, things could go downhill very fast.

“Oh. That’s interesting…” Louis mumbled, his eyes moving toward Harry’s quarters’ door.

Maybe the reason Harry hadn’t explained himself about sleeping with Zayn was because of this reason. He didn’t want Louis saying it to either Niall or Liam and Louis himself couldn’t say anything since he didn’t know the whole story.

“I’m just going to go now.” The royal stated before he began walking across the deck toward Harry’s room door.

If Zayn and Harry were both in there, he could just ask the two of them up front about it…

His hand touched the doorknob and he didn’t hesitate to open it.

Stepping inside the study, Louis kept his face straight as he came to the imagine of Zayn sitting on the side of Harry’s desk, his arms folded over his chest while he gaze down at the seat captain that watched up at the dark haired pirate.

Louis’s entrance to the room caused both males to turn their attention to the door.

Zayn’s face cracked into a grin while he nodded over at Louis in greeting and Harry shook his head slightly before moving his attention back toward Zayn.

The curly haired captain beckoned him closer and Zayn easily complied by bending himself lower so his ear was near Harry’s mouth. Two seconds later Harry pulled away from a rather bemused looking Zayn.

“Well, I suppose this is my signal to leave.” Harry snorted before standing to his feet. Within his grasp were several sheets of paper that he shoved into a portfolio on his desk before grabbing it up toward his coat.

He started walking to the entrance and the moment he was upon Louis he gave the royal a smirk, “Plan on moving for me, Princess?”

“Now you want to talk to me?” Louis sneered with a glare into the other’s eyes.

“Oh, you wanted me to talk to you before?” Harry arched a brow of amusement,

Scoffing, Louis tried to fight back a smile from his face as he allowed the pirate captain to brush past him, however before Harry could fully exit, he glanced back at Louis dully, “My clothes are big on you, right?”

“Well, not really. Only a little.” Louis truthfully responded with his eyes gazing down at the sleeves.

Harry said nothing more and the door closed behind him.

“Here’s to hoping my presence in here won’t be awkward.” Zayn stated with a hand up,

Louis didn’t question that, instead he folded his arms and began to approach the still seated pirate, “Alright, so this may be incredibly blunt to bring up but I have to know the answer.”

The dark-haired male watched him curiously to continue and Louis sighed heavily…

The more he thought about it, the more he came to realize none of this was even any of his business.

If Zayn and Harry had sex, it had nothing to do with him. If Zayn and Harry shared a bed, it had nothing to do with him. Even if it put Zayn’s relationship in jeopardy, it didn’t affect him in the slightest so he shouldn’t care.

But the more progression he put into this, he had to consider. There were a lot of things that didn’t affect him that he had the power to change for the better. If he needed to get something straightened out, it was best it just do so.

“You and Harry, you two share a bed, right?”

He started out with the softer accusation, not wanting to jump straight into the sex topic.

Zayn shook his head, “Nope. I only share a bed with Li and Nialler.” His expression of honestly brought out all traces of doubt within Louis’s mind and he found himself able to give an inward breath of relief.

Okay, so obviously if they didn’t share a bed, they didn’t have sex.

“Haha, I figured. It’s funny, I actually heard that you and him had sex before, you know.” Louis chuckled as his hands trailed over the papers on Harry’s desk.

“Uhm, not so sure how it’s funny, but we did.” Zayn said and Louis found himself freezing before he slowly turned his head toward the seated pirate that watched him in mirth, “Now, now. Before you go into a gigantic royal fit and kill me, just know that we had sex way back before we even found Niall. The sex meant nothing and I am  _not_  in love with Harry. I’m very much in love with those two amazing pirate mates that are probably on their way to the city without me right now.”

The words came out moderately but it still took a moment for Louis to digest all of it down and when he did, he scowled in disdain, “Do Niall and Liam know that you two went through that?” He couldn’t help the irritation rising onto him from this situation.

Zayn nodded, “Liam was onboard when it happened, and that was before we were together with Niall so naturally they have no problem with it.”

“So… You two just had sex and that was it? You’re friends and you just decided one night to have sex?” Louis asked in disbelief.

The pirate snorted, “Well, we’ve had sex multiple times in the past, actually.”

Louis couldn’t help the souring to his face with that but he listened on.

“I just understood him the most and aside from Liam, he understood me the most. We knew it wouldn’t affect our relationship because we were good friends and all so we just did it. It helps that he used to be willing to experiment with me.” Zayn shrugged his shoulders almost thoughtlessly, “Our relationship is nice like that.”

Their relationship was closed off and mysterious in accordance to most people onboard, and Louis could say he agreed.

But it was Zayn after all. Harry wasn’t the most secretive man but when he didn’t want to speak, it was obvious he wouldn’t. Louis wasn’t even sure if he knew anything about Zayn aside from his name.

Nodding in somewhat understanding, Louis watched Zayn in wonder, “How’d it get to be like that?”

Zayn gave a crooked smile, “So long of the two of us being together. We’re best mates because of that naturally.”

He clearly avoided the in depth meaning to the question and Louis realized he’d have to be straight to the point if he wanted a proper answer. Running a hand through his hair he gave Zayn a half-lidded stare to move away any traces of interest that would otherwise make Zayn not willing to share,

“I’ve heard Liam, Danielle, Niall, and even Harry’s back story. I have yet to hear yours… So what’s your past all about?”

Zayn blinked, “My past?”

The prince nodded his head, watching Zayn vigilantly.

“Well… My past is all about me, but I guess that’s pretty obvious, huh?”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Louis dryly asked earning a wink from the dark haired pirate that hopped off the desk, “Maybe one day. Just stick around for a bit and we’ll see.”

“Fair enough.” The royal replied easily before gave Zayn a skeptical look, “Where  _does_ Harry sleep? He doesn’t sleep with you, something he lied about and I’ll have to tell him about, but he doesn’t sleep in his room, so where?”

The question came as simple to the pirate that tilted his head to the side, “He sleeps right on this chair,” His hand reached over to the spinning chair in front of the desk, “I’m not so sure if it’s the comfiest, but he doesn’t complain so I suppose it’s alright.”

Louis silently allowed his irises to trail over the desk’s chair… It was so plain and the cushion on it didn’t look half as decent as a mattress could be.

Harry had been sleeping on  _that_  since Louis had been onboard. Louis grimaced and tried to take his mind off of that fact as he moved his eyes back to Zayn, “On another note, why are you even in here? Shouldn’t you be heading out into town with the others?”

His words made Zayn laugh lightly, “Isn’t it obvious?”

When Louis found himself unable to retort with a proper answer, Zayn snorted, “Harry didn’t want you to stay locked up in here alone. Niall hasn’t been on land in a while and we both didn’t want to deny him that, so I’m here to stay with you.”

That was a bit of a surprise.

Harry didn’t want him alone as ironic as it was…

“Thanks for volunteering and all but I think I can last three hours alone.” Louis flashed a thumbs up toward the male that shook his head, “At least take some degree of notice to recognize the thought behind this. I don’t know if you see it or not, Louis, but Harry cares about you a lot more than you think.”

Louis stiffened at the sudden bring up of the topic, however Zayn persisted,

“His hat is really special to him. He doesn’t let anyone else  _touch_ it, yet I heard he let you wear it and even then, you-know-what happened and… I think that was partially the reason he was so detached from us during those four days. When he talked to me it was like he wasn’t even here with me, you know? Not to make you feel bad or anything, but what you did may have hit him just as much as it hit you. Not physically, but emotionally. And emotional wounds are always harder to heal than physical ones.” Zayn considerately voiced.

The hat’s significance had already been briefed to him and hearing it again by another mouth certainly didn’t make things better.

Louis released a heavy exhale, “You seem to know him better than I do… Would you say he’s still hurt by it?”

Unhelpfully, Zayn shrugged his shoulders, “He doesn’t show it but I have a feeling it might. Why?”

“I don’t know… I was just… I don’t exactly have anything of value that I can give him in exchange to help him or anything.” Louis tiredly mumbled. If he had his old bracelet that his mother had given him, back when he had it on the royal ship before the raid happened and he got stripped of all his values, he probably would have given that to Harry to show the pirate’s sentiments weren’t going to waste… But he didn’t have it.

“We’re by a town now. I’m sure there’s valuable stuff out there. But, Harry would kill me if I let you go out…”

Almost instantly with Zayn’s words, Louis found himself brightening up.

That was actually a perfect idea.

His change in mood apparently didn’t go unnoticed by Zayn who cringed his way.

Louis slowly began edging to the door as Zayn watched him stiffly, “Louis…”

“Yeah?”

Zayn tensed as he followed the royal’s movements, “Okay, so let’s just stop being hasty for a second.”

“I’m not being hasty, thank you very much. I’m just moving toward the door, Zayn.”

“Okay, so stop moving toward the door, because we both know if you do what I think you’re going to do, it won’t end well and—“

Louis didn’t wait for him to finish, he turned and bolted straight for the exit.

**Chapter 25.**

“Let me go, Zayn!” Louis hissed as he found himself being pulled back into the room the moment he managed to step outside of it.

He should have known better.

Even if Zayn wasn’t Harry, he was still a pirate and one of Harry’s best men.

Zayn’s arms that were wrapped around his waist continued tugging him inside until he swung the royal 180 degrees to stand opposite from the door. He released Louis and scowled, “There, I let you go. Happy now, Your Highness?”

The dryness of his tone made Louis’s eyes narrow, “I’m not trying to do anything bad.” His arms folded over his chest after he attempted to adjust his shirt that had been twisted when Zayn practically tackled him into an embrace when he made the break to the door.

“Which I’m respecting you for. Really, I am.” Zayn replied, “But I’d like if you respected me by not rushing off the ship like that.” His stance in front of the door appeared unwavering and Louis arched a brow challengingly.

He could understand why Zayn wouldn’t want this because obviously, if Harry somehow found out not only would Louis be getting it, but so would Zayn…

Clicking his tongue, Louis shrugged, “Then how should I rush off that would be ‘respectful’ to you?”

“By not leaving the ship at all.”

“Zayn.”

The dark haired pirate shook his head, his heels turning in order for him to approach the door and close gently. Zayn glanced back over his shoulder to the brunet, “It’s nothing personal or anything, Louis. I mean, I know you don’t want to do anything bad and your reason for wanting to go is really admiring, but Harry would destroy me.”

“But he doesn’t have to know.”

“He’ll find out somehow.”

“How do you know he will?”

“Harry has a way of finding stuff out.”

Louis’s scowl deepened and he impatiently tapped his foot, “So you’re  _really_ that afraid of Harry? Whatever happened to ‘being best mates’? It’s not like he’ll kill you or anything if he found out, which he wouldn’t.”

Visibly, Zayn rolled his eyes with a huff of breath before he leaned his back on the door, “I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of him exactly. I know he wouldn’t kill me, but he still is my captain and if I disobey his orders it wouldn’t be a horrifying thing if he punished me.” As an afterthought, he cringed while glancing over Louis’s form, “You’re pretty confident that you won’t get caught.”

He shrugged his shoulders, “Think about it. If we’re stopping here quickly, he clearly has something to do and what he’s doing is going to take up practically the time we’re here. So me going into town real quick shouldn’t be a problem.” Louis paused for a moment with a growing hopeful smile, “Or should I say,  _us_ going into town won’t be a problem? Come on, Zayn.”

Louis attempted to put on his most persuasive face while he slowly edged to the pirate that firmly shook his head in rejection.

That didn’t discourage the royal; he was used to convincing people into his whim since he’d been younger. Whether it be trying to get a shy, young Eleanor to actually be mischievous or getting his sisters to not tell on him when he took a prank a bit too far, Louis could do it if he set his mind to it.

It was obvious that he’d have to exploit Zayn’s weaker morals to get what he wanted.

As far as he knew, Harry was one of those morals along with Liam and Niall.

“You said it yourself; emotional wounds are the hardest to heal. Maybe if I actually got something for Harry the process would be faster.” His hand made its way to the younger male’s shoulder and he watched into the other’s dark eyes considerately, “If I mean so much to him, if I gave him anything, it should mean a lot, right? That’s why I think I, no;  _we_ should both go out and get it. Imagine you were in my shoes and you want something for Niall and Liam, but you couldn’t go because I was stopping you.”

Zayn seemingly stiffened, his irises staring into Louis’s own skeptically, however along with his own reflection, Louis was able to detect Zayn’s emotions swaying in his favor.

“Alright. Fine. We’ll go, but it will be real fast and I don’t to hear you complain if we get caught and Harry’s tying us both onto an anchor and dropping us into the water, yeah?” Zayn sighed out in defeat after a moment of silence, his eyes broke contact with the prince’s, and Louis bit back the smile of triumphant that threatened to pierce its way onto his lips.

Instead, he nodded politely, “Fantastic.”

The male held up a hand to silence his words and with a bemused expression Louis watched at him as Zayn got up from his position on the door. The pirate dug into his pocket before his hand erupted out from it with what looked like a dark red rag.

Louis’s eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement while he was offered the small bundle, “What is that?”

“It’s a bandana. I know Harry would probably make you wear something like this before we go, so just put it on.”

Accepting the light weight bandana, Louis could only watch at it in mild confusion. He placed it on his head, tucking in all his visible hair before knotting it tightly in the back.

When he finished, Zayn gave an approving nod with a grin, “Now, I do believe it’d be best for us to go… But like I said, this will be real fast.”

Louis smirked, his body sauntering beside Zayn to grab hold of the doorknob. He gave him an amused look, “Whatever you say. Though you should have some kind of money on you because I am a captive and therefore lack all forms of currency.”

Zayn audibly made a noise of exasperation as Louis exited out of Harry’s study to go on deck.

The bridge had been lowered and when the two began approaching it, Louis felt himself give a thought breath as he attempted to think of what would be suitable to give Harry as a gift. Last night, even if they talked Louis didn’t know much of his personal preferences aside from when he lost his virginity and his favorite animal.

His thoughts were shattered the moment he found a rather strong grip at his shoulder blade.

Confused, he stopped his steps and glanced over behind him where Zayn stood, his brown eyes watching at Louis firmly, “Okay, I’m not so sure if you’re thinking of trying an escape routine with me but I’m warning you now Louis… If you’re  _really_ that stupid to try running away, I hope you know that I  _will_ find you and when I find you, you’ll wish that Harry got to you first, understand?”

Shrugging off the threat, Louis brushed Zayn’s hand off with a roll to his eyes, “Your warning means nothing to me because I’m not going to run away. You have my word. You see, the thing about me is that when I want to do something, I’m pretty stubborn until I get it my way. I  _want_ to get Harry something, and nothing is going to stop me from doing it. Do  _you_ understand?” He retorted lightly with a half-lidded stare to the younger male that appeared at a loss of what to reply with.

Snorting, the royal averted his attention forward before he began walking down the bridge to the pier with Zayn following up beside him.

“Alright, you just gained a lot of my respect with that honorable heart of yours. Now if we can just get whatever it is you want from this place as soon as possible and get back on the ship, that’d be even better, but I’m just saying.” Zayn remarked when the two finally made it off the dock and at the edge of the market.

All of the venders at this point from Louis’s perspective appeared to be selling sea food or marine supplies which by geographical stand point made a lot of sense.

However, that brought up another factor in the royal’s mind as he began following behind Zayn amongst the busy crowd of chattering people.

Every so often, the people who locked gazes with him would scrunch up their eyebrows in confusion before shaking their heads and turning away to go back to their earlier conversation. At first it was a bit unsettling but it suddenly made Louis think…

They weren’t in Ireland, which was obvious considering how their accents didn’t sound Irish in the slightest. They weren’t Scottish either.

The possibility that they were in England was too unbelievable. It was always possible that they were in Wales… But Zayn wouldn’t risk bringing him out in England after all.

“Where are we?” Louis questioned right as it appeared Zayn was slowing his steps down.

The dark-haired pirate looked back at him curiously, “Uhm, Whitehaven.”

“ _Whitehaven_?” His steps stopped entirely while he choked the words out in astonishment. His arms fell to the side and he gaped at Zayn before he caught him with a large smile, “Whoa. I’m surprised you have so much faith in me right now, Zayn.”

One of Zayn’s eyebrows quirked upward and Louis chuckled, “Nothing, it’s just that we’re in England and all and you’re honestly trusting me enough to not run away when all I have to do is shout out ‘I’m the Prince of the United Kingdom!’ and then I’ll be whisked off to my palace while you watch helplessly and eventually be faced with explaining to Harry how you basically let me free. It’s funny how you have so much faith in me.”

That explained why those people were giving him those bemused stares.

They recognized him, yet they  _didn’t_ recognize him.

It was a bit farfetched to think that the missing Prince who had been last seen on the water on the other side of the country was in such a location, looking like a pirate and seeming completely calm with his surroundings.

Their common sense was clearly brushing it off and putting him off as a look-a-like or something similar.

Zayn’s expression didn’t appear altered. Instead, the male rolled his eyes lightly, “I think my trust is more stupid than it is funny to be honest.”

“Hah.” Louis gave the male a small pat on the back while he began walking forward, “No worries, Zaynie-kins. I won’t run away and leave the big bad Captain Styles angry that you let his precious prince escape.”

Legitimately, this was the perfect way to get away and go home.

If he ripped off his bandana and made a scene by pinning Zayn as the bad guy who kidnapped him, he was sure that he’d gain support even if his clothes kind of signaled he wasn’t who he really was.

But…

He knew it wouldn’t right if he did it that way.

Zayn would die and Harry’s reaction wouldn’t exactly be the best thing ever. His worst case scenario could just see Harry slaughtering everyone and eventually getting to him and it wouldn’t be pretty at all. Especially when all Louis wanted to do was get the guy a gift so his soul could rest in peace.

He’d get another chance to get away, but this wasn’t the way to do it because ultimately Zayn’s blood would be on his hands and none of this was even Zayn’s fault to begin with.

“Which I love you for, babe.” Zayn snickered, his hands slipping into his pockets with a grin, “Now, what shall we get for the big bad Captain Styles? I brought enough money for you to go as fancy and extravagant as you want, Your Highness.”

As great as that was, Louis found his lips pursing in disapproval as he shook his head, “If I want this to have emotional meaning or whatever, the value won’t lie in the amount it costs you know. But knowing my reaches are lengthened is nice too.”

His eyes trailed around to the different stands to see if he could spot something worth checking out.

He didn’t know much of Harry’s tastes despite spending so much time around him…

“Looks like you’re having an existential crisis, babe. What’s wrong?” Zayn questioned in mild amusement as he glanced over in Louis’s line of sight.

“I don’t know what I should get him…” Louis truthfully admitted with a heavy sigh, “You’re his best friend, aren’t you? What should I get?” He turned to Zayn, who blinked his eyes before awkwardly shifting his eyes toward the ground.

“Wow. That is a good question.”

“You should be ashamed of yourself because you don’t know what your own best friend likes.”

Zayn held his hands up in defense, “Hey! Don’t pin the blame on me! In case you haven’t noticed, Harry isn’t exactly the most readable and open person in the world!”

“But that still isn’t an excuse to not know what he likes. Just saying.” Louis shrugged, earning a glare from Zayn, “Oh? So you must know everything about Eleanor, then huh? Mr. Perfect Best Friend.”

Narrowing his eyes, Louis folded his arms over his chest indignantly, “Enough to know what would be a suitable and meaningful gift for her! Geez, do you at least know about something Harry’s wanted for a while but couldn’t have?” He impatiently inquired.

The male groaned, “Yeah, but it’s so obvious what it is, even  _you_ know by now.”

“What are you talking about—“

Louis stopped speaking because it dawned on him exactly what Zayn meant.

He could feel his cheeks warming up and he knew he had to change the subject.

Huffing, he averted his face from the pirate’s view, “I’m not whoring myself out.”

“You don’t have to.” Zayn shrugged thoughtfully, “We both know he’s had you physically already, don’t even lie.” He sent him a smirk before adding, “But he’s never had your good graces like Liam, Niall, and I have? So maybe you can just show him your good side. I’m pretty sure he’d want that.”

“But that defeats the purpose of me getting him something of  _value_ in compromise for his hat.” Louis bit his bottom lip.

If even Zayn didn’t know what he could get, he was pretty much in a tight spot.

Necklaces, jewels, and clothes would all be worthless to a pirate who practically had all of riches he needed on his ship.

God, shopping should  _not_ be this difficult for anyone.

Suddenly, Louis found himself jumping a bit in surprise at the strange feeling of something crawling over his feet.

His eyes shot downward to see what was touching his boot, and the moment his eyes cast down on the small ginger kitten he found himself unable to hold back an ‘Aww’.

Not even caring what Zayn thought, Louis was already bending down to pick up the feeble animal that stiffened in his hold the second he rose it up from the ground.

“It’s cute.” The royal laughed as he rubbed the softly mewling kitten. “Wonder where its mother is?” He absentmindedly muttered with a swift glance along the cobblestone floor, his eyes darting between the vast amounts of moving legs in the marketplace.

“It’s a stray; its mom is probably dead.” Zayn easily answered, “Stray kittens and cats aren’t that uncommon in the marketplace. But normally someone would have stepped on it when it wanders into this busy part of town… It got lucky that it’s still alive.”

With further inspection, it now came to Louis’s attention that there was a spot on the kitten’s back that appeared a bit hairless, a recently closed cut close to its neck.

At the most, in the palace Louis had only been exposed to sterile animals that were pure-breed. But it didn’t mean that this stray was any less worth than one of those fancy cats that he could have had in his home.

A life was a life all the same.

“We’re keeping it.” Louis announced with a glance upward to Zayn who watched him with widened eyes, “What—“

“We’re keeping it and that’s  _final_.” The royal repeated, this time with a bared teeth smile pointed at the pirate.

Zayn’s eyes narrowed, “Louis, you do realize you just can’t bring a cat onboard that ship right?”

“I don’t care.  _I’m_ keeping it and his name can be… Hm… What can you name a ginger cat? Something like Ed, maybe? What do you think?”

“We can’t keep it.”

“We’re keeping it.”

“Louis,” Zayn tried to reason, “Be reasonable. What do you think Harry would do if he saw it? He’d probably toss the poor thing overboard! It’ll be a lot of work to take care of!”

Instinctively, Louis shrugged as a way to show he didn’t care, but then a thought turned in his head.

Harry  _wouldn’t_ do anything to the cat, not just because Louis would defend the thing with his life and threaten to jump overboard if Harry tried anything, but also because Harry’s favorite animal happened to be the kitten’s species.

Besides… The thing was way too cute to hurt, anyhow. Even Harry wouldn’t be able to deny that.

“No, he won’t.” Louis grinned cheekily, “If I give him this little guy as a gift, I  _dare_ him to throw him overboard.”

Zayn watched him, eyes clearly not impressed, but Louis simply adjusted the kitten into one hand and waved him off, “We should go shopping for stuff for him. Like a cat bed, some toys, and food to last for a while. Come on, Zayn.” Louis commanded as he turned on his heel to begin walking away.

He heard Zayn grumble beneath his breath, but he chose to ignore it as he paid more mind to the still lightly shaking animal in his grasp.

Louis reassuringly gave the orange coated kitten a few rubs on the head to ease its fears while he continued walking amongst the steady crowds of people in the marketplace.

With the huge flow of people that seemed to be touching him on all sides at one point, Louis had a feeling that it must have been around noon and a majority of people were stopping by to buy food for lunch or something similar.

At one point, when he was finally able to properly move without touching someone.

Breathing out in relief, he loosened his hold on the kitten considerably before he began moving over to one of the stands that appeared to be selling ribbons and other hair accessories.

He wanted something to tie around its neck…

A green would probably look good, but all the dyed greens he saw were all light and pastel and he just knew it’d look gross when put in comparison with the cat’s fur. He clicked his tongue as he moved along the line in search for another color that could complement the kitten’s color.

“Excuse me.”

Louis felt his blood instantly chill at the call from the painfully familiar and deep voice.

His body went rigid from his spot over the table of ribbons threads and the cat in his grasp began to squirm a bit more than it had before when it noticed Louis’s tighter hold on it.

The voice sounded so close, like it owner was right behind him and at this point he felt a lump grow in the pit of his throat.

Louis couldn’t turn around because a small part of him prayed that even if Harry was right behind him, he wasn’t speaking to him.

Slowly, he began inching away, down the aisle of the table, his head turned to the right with a deep scowl.

“I said, excuse  _me_.”

A hand to his left shoulder and Louis inwardly hissed at his misfortune.

At this moment in time it came to his attention that Zayn was nowhere in sight and if he was, he was probably watching this unfold with as much fear as Louis was.

How the royal fuck did Harry happen to appear at the same place as Louis and at the same exact time!?

It wasn’t humanly possible!

“Uh…” Louis gruffly responded, he continued shuffling uneasily. Harry still followed his steps persistently and Louis contemplated on just stopping and turning to explain himself, but he knew this probably wouldn’t end well if it was looked at from Harry’s perspective.

Then, Harry’s grip tightened heavily to the point that the royal winced in pain from the short sting that shot through his shoulder, “Louis, you can stop now.”

Louis’s movements came to a halt instantly and he slowly turned his head over to where Harry stood.

Unlike what he expected, Harry didn’t wear the same expression that he’d been wearing back in Ireland when Louis had discovered in him the Cathedral… The harshly cold and emotionless facial feature had given Louis chills and practically screamed that Louis had dark times ahead in Harry’s hands…

But this time… Harry looked more exasperated.

Like a mother that just found her child doing something she’d specifically told him not to do.

Louis didn’t know if he should be offended with that or not.

“Harry—“

“What can I do, Louis?”

And then all of sudden, it was as though the only people that existed in the world was both Harry and himself.

Louis found his skin heating up as he stared back into Harry’s vivid green eyes that seemed to be overflowing with a cocktail of emotions. The emotionless, icy shield that he had built over himself was melting away before his eyes and he was speechless to say anything as Harry’s other hand came to grip his other shoulder and the pirate continued gazing at him.

“Tell me, what can I do to make you want to stay with me?” His voice was strong and his irises wavered in hurt that instantly felt like a punch in the stomach, “I realized scaring you and hurting you wasn’t what I had to do, but now that I’m trying to be gentle and nice, it isn’t working either. So tell me, _please_ ,”

The vocal plead at the end was deliver with a desperate frown from the pirate captain as he continued watching the royal stilly and at this point, Louis didn’t exactly have any words.

Harry was showing his vulnerable side once again and this time it pained Louis just by  _looking_  at him. His expression was so helpless and appeared to be entirely dependent on whatever Louis’s response would be. The realization of this also made Louis’s eyes sympathetically watch at the face of the younger boy that looked entirely hurt.

Harry was  _hurt_ because he thought Louis was trying to get away from him. It was  _hurting_ him that Louis wanted to be away. And Louis knew better than to think he was showing this weakness because Louis was worth money or for revenge against his father.

Harry was literally exposing his true emotions because of whatever feelings he held for him.

It was a little scary to consider, also a tad bit strange to think about… But what Zayn, Liam, and Niall and everyone else had been telling him on the ship had to be true.

Harry cared about him.

And the thought of Louis trying to escape hurt him more than he let on.

The emotional hurt that Zayn had talked about over Louis’s first escape and Harry’s hat came to mind once more and as he returned Harry’s intense stare, the full damage of it all was practically smacking him the face in the form of Harry’s own rare display of true feelings from his entire face.

Taking a deep breath, Louis shook his head gently before he tried to brush off Harry’s hands from his shoulders. Surprisingly, Harry complied and dropped his hands before Louis offered him a weak smile, “I got you a kitten.” Louis informed while he slowly brought up his hands to show the ginger kitten in his grasp between the small space his and Harry’s bodies shared.

“I also have an explanation so  _stop_ looking like that because you’re going to make me feel like crying or something, Haz.” Louis attempted to tease lightly, his smile twitching mischievously at the pirate captain that childishly folded his arms over his chest with a small glare toward the floor.

-

“Do you guys really think Harry will end up leaving without us!?” Eleanor worriedly questioned as she sprinted forward along with the rest of the group.

Niall was laid on Liam’s back, too drunk to properly see straight let alone walk, but despite that, Liam was still able to run faster than the pirate nurse, a fact that she was admittedly slightly ashamed of. Danielle led the run, her arms holding up the several bags of clothes and items they’d picked up earlier while she huffed, “Harry pushed me overboard before! I don’t think he’ll have a problem pulling up the anchor when we’re not there!”

“I told you both to watch the time! Now we’re going to be late and Harry’s going to angry! All because you two don’t know a single thing about timeliness!” Liam scolded out right as they reached the docks.

To Eleanor’s relief, One Direction was still there, the bridge was still pulled down, and Harry wasn’t out there waiting for them or anything similar.

However, that didn’t slow down Danielle or Liam and the pair continued racing down the pier. Eleanor struggled to keep up, her weaker lungs threatening to give out while she trailed behind.

She hadn’t meant to take so much time…

All she wanted to do was do was a quick shopping for Louis, and she had taken Danielle with her, hopeful she and her girlfriend could have some bonding time while looking for clothes. Danielle had a nice sense in what she thought Louis would like, however when it came to Eleanor picking out dresses for her, she seemed weary due to the whole ‘pirate’ situation, which Eleanor found understandable.

But that didn’t mean Danielle couldn’t dress like an Englishwoman every now and then on the ship!

So it turned into a bit of field day for the two and their three hours slipped out their hands like sand and when they met up with Liam he informed them that their three hours had turned into  _five_ hours.

Danielle promised she’d take the blame at first then Liam said he’d take the fall instead, something Eleanor felt entirely terrible for and she already promised herself when they were confronting Harry, she’d intervene and tell the truth.

“Please don’t tell me we’re the last ones onboard.” Liam called up to Zayn as they began sprinting up the bridge.

Zayn stood by the entrance onto the ship, his arm rest on the ledge with a lazy smile and the moment Liam walked on, he greeted the brunet with a sweet kiss on the lips, “Sorry, babe. You are. But don’t be too worried about it.” Zayn softly reassured before turning his attention to Niall who was nuzzle his face into the crook of Liam’s neck obliviously.

“Little leprechaun had too much to drink?” He tsked out with a shake to his head when Liam nodded his head, “Nothing different than when we normally go out.”

“Niall, one day when we land, it’d be real nice if you came back on this ship sober, you know.” Zayn stated with a ruffle to the blonde’s hair.

Niall mumbled incoherent phrases that Zayn had to roll his eyes at.

“Where’s Captain Styles?” Eleanor meekly interrupted, her breathing still not evened out from her run earlier.

Almost instantly, Zayn’s eyebrows gave a small wiggle and he wore a sly smile on his face, “Talking with the Princess who basically saved your asses from being shot for being late.”

The curly haired female gave a snort, a hand going to her heart and another up in the air, “I’d like to thank God for bringing Louis onboard and saving me and the people I love from a bullet in the arse. Amen.”

“Anyways,” Zayn pointedly remarked with a smile, “Let’s get Niall to bed, yeah?” He questioned to Liam who returned the expression, “Haha, yeah. How was your time onboard with Louis? And sorry for being away so long.”

“Its fine and our time was pretty short. I missed you and Niall a lot though.”

“They’re  _so_  going to bed to fuck.” Danielle chimed with a shake to her head while she watched the three walk toward the door to get to the lower decks.

Eleanor giggled, too familiar with Danielle’s banter toward the trio. It was embarrassing at first, hearing her talk about the three’s sex lives so freely, but eventually she came to see the humor in the situation and she laughed whenever she heard the jokes on it.

Of course, she and Danielle hadn’t made that step in their relationship yet, and Eleanor was entirely grateful that Danielle wasn’t pushy in going past hand holding and simple kisses on the lip so soon. Zayn taunted Danielle on it, but thankfully it wasn’t serious and it didn’t bother Danielle into pressuring Eleanor to advance their physical relationship.

“So the Princess is talking with the Captain and apparently that stopped him from being pissy at the fact we were late. Haha, Louis is made of magic.” Danielle shook her head as she picked up the bags of clothing that she had dropped on the floor.

Eleanor instantly moved to assist her with a smile, “Captain Styles must really like him. I think Louis may like him back.” She thoughtfully stated.

“Oh? Really?” The curly haired pirate questioned, “Do you mean… Like as in like or  _like like_?” Danielle stressed curiously.

The brunette hummed, “Well… I’ll need to ask. But I’m more than positive he just ‘likes’ like a friend? He spends so much with Captain Styles, it’d be impossible for them to  _not_ have some of bond there by now not to mention whenever he and I are talking, Louis always brings up Captain Styles at least twice if not more… When he doesn’t like someone, he never talks about them…” Eleanor wistfully informed while the two began making their way to the stairs to the lower decks as Zayn, Liam, and Niall had.

As they did so, Eleanor glanced over her shoulder at the upper deck toward the front of the ship where she saw both Harry and Louis at the ship’s edge speaking with one another.

“Yeah, we can give the Princess his clothes later.” Danielle chuckled, her eyes moving from where she had seen Eleanor gazing off.

Eleanor gave a giggle and nodded in agreement before following after the other female.

-

“Who names a bird Kevin?”

“You can _not_ compare the name Kevin for a bird to the name Molly for a cat. That’s just a terrible comparison all together.” Louis countered with a shake to his head, his eyes gazing down at the yellow tinged water below.

The Sun wasn’t set up as high as it had been earlier and was slowly falling in favor of the horizon.

He and Harry came over their misunderstanding earlier and Harry had been completely compliant in favor of Louis’s kitten gift. How touching it was, would probably remain a mystery because just as quickly as Harry’s emotionless shield had been fitted down, it shot back up right after and Louis lacked the skill of seeing Harry’s true emotions past his Captain façade as Zayn, Liam, Niall, and even Danielle all acquired.

When he thought about it like a challenge, he was sure in due time he’d be able to read Harry over like a book so he wasn’t too concerned about for the time being.

After that, Harry took him to his meeting place with some man. Louis hadn’t been allowed in the meeting room and he promised Harry he wouldn’t leave after the captain appeared distressed when he learned that Louis couldn’t follow him in. He kept his promise and occupied himself with playing with the nameless kitten until Harry came out and to his surprise; Harry had greeted him out with a quick hug that Louis had been returned entirely out of instinct.

The two spent time shopping for clothes but Louis realized that Harry’s sense in clothing was pathetic and he had to take over for the both of them.

He honestly felt bad for spending too much and only settled on three outfits despite Harry’s teasing.

They made it back on the ship and after Louis changed his clothes into the cleaner more suiting wardrobe, he and Harry were just by the ship’s wheel as they had been the night previous, talking.

It was relaxing in a way.

Harry snorted, “I didn’t even think people named their birds.”

“ _I_ named my birds and his name was Kevin and don’t you forget it.” Louis snapped out earning a brief chuckle from Harry, “Okay, okay. So its name won’t be Molly… Then what?”

Louis blinked his eyes, his thoughts remembering the kitten that no doubt was still sleeping on Harry’s bed where they had left it, “Why are you asking me? It’s your cat.”

“Because I care about what you have to say.” Harry honestly replied causing Louis to halt his movements.

It was as though he could feel Harry’s eyes on him, analyzing every bit of his actions and it unsettled him a bit whenever Harry did this.

Say something that meant he cared and then stared at him with that intense gaze.

“Yeah, that’s nice and all, but I got it for you. So you should name it.” Louis ran a hand through his brown hair while turning to the brunet confidently.

Harry nodded his head, “But when I suggest a name, you criticize me.”

“Because the names you pick are ridiculous.”

“So why don’t  _you_ pick a name then?”

“Because it’s your cat.”

“You’re very difficult.”

Louis smiled sweetly, “Glad you know how being around you normally is.”

“Touché.” Harry shrugged off, “But in all honestly can I just give the thing a name without you complaining about it?”

His tone sounded tired and Louis had to chuckle at the fact he’d managed to basically exhaust him out with his constant nitpicks at the attempts to name the cat, even though his own style of naming his pets back home had been ridiculed.

“Haha, yeah, name it whatever you want.” Louis commanded with a wave of his hand that made Harry roll his eyes, “Thank you, Your Highness. What would I ever have done without your royal blessings?” He sarcastically stated before Louis narrowed his eyes at him.

“Okay, so I think I’ll name the cat… Dusty. It looks like a Dusty.” Harry settled on with a firm nod.

Louis snorted, “Just like how it looked like a ‘Molly’ two minutes ago?”

A warning finger was raised in his direction as Harry glared at him threateningly, “You gave me permission to name it without your complaining.”

With a hand to his mouth, Louis raised his hands up, “Oops. Just ignore me.”

“I can never do that.” Harry truthfully responded, his eyes watching at Louis plainly.

Louis felt his face warm up while he glanced away.

He hated that effect that Harry had.

To say something so simple and to get him feeling flustered and embarrassed with himself when he shouldn’t…

He attempted to think of a way to turn the conversation around and as he did so he turned to face Harry with narrowed eyes, “Alright, if you can’t ignore me then explain why you  _lied_ to me earlier about where you slept.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up in a way that showed he hadn’t been prepared for the question, but just as quickly as his surprise shined, it disappeared into calmness while he watched Louis continue,

“What the hell was the point in lying? I really don’t understand you. If you slept in your chair, you slept in your chair. Don’t go making up pointless lies.” Louis shot out to the pirate captain that scowled, his green eyes fleeting out to the town beyond the dock,

“I lied for my own reasons. Don’t worry about it.”

“’Your own reasons’? What a load of bullshit.” Louis groaned, “You know what, I pretty much made up my mind. Tonight,  _I’m_ sleeping with Zayn. You can have your bed back. I don’t care.” Louis managed to grumble out as he brushed past Harry and began walking down the steps to go in the direction of the entrance to the lower deck.

Just as he did so, he nearly found himself toppling over as the bridge was pulled in with a sudden  _Bam_ to the floorboards as the crew members worked to putting the large plank of wood away.

Louis found a around them and moved his way closer to the ledge at the side of the ship.

He paused to overlook the dock with a thoughtful expression on his face… He was right when he told himself earlier in the morning that he needed to reevaluate his relationship with Harry.

The barrier for the two of them to be called friends had to have been crossed already. The two of them were talking more openly with one another and it seemed as though there was no animosity between them…

Not to mention, Harry’s face when he thought Louis was leaving trying to him was oddly depressing to think about.

Maybe because he felt guilty about hurting someone emotionally when he had no control over it?

Maybe…

He’d have to talk to Eleanor about this, because keeping it to himself made him want to go crazy. Hearing another person’s take on this would be beneficial because he didn’t know where he was going at all with it in his mind.

It felt like he was constantly moving in a circle.

He missed his family a lot but he knew Harry had no family left and the closest thing he had to the remains of his family was literally Louis himself.

If Louis were placed in Harry’s shoes, he knew that as selfish as it was, he wouldn’t want himself go away either.

“Prince Louis?!”

The unfamiliar and strangely deep voice calling of his name instantly made the brunet perk up, his eyebrows instantly knitted in confusion after he turned over his shoulder to see if it had been any of the crew members calling him.

He turned his attention back to the dock, and the moment he did, he found his eyes widening in surprise at the sudden appearance of several sailors that stood towards the bottom of the ship on the pier,

“It’s His Highness!”

“Alert the town now that the Prince has been found!”

“The news needs to reach London!”

Louis blanched, the color practically leaving his face as he watched down at the men who frantically waved for him to come down.

He’d been recognized somehow.

It now came to his attention that he had changed out of his pirate clothes and the bandana was gone.

He actually  _looked_ like royalty again.

The ship then suddenly gave a violent jerk and Louis held onto the ledge to keep himself from tipping over to the floor.

Even if he wanted to get down, the bridge was pulled up so he couldn’t… Unless he jumped and even then that’d mean suicide.

Anxiously he bit his bottom lip and contemplating going to the other side of the ship jumping into the water. He’d be able to swim to the dock and from there he’d be home free but he’d have to do it now before they got too far away and into open water.

He glanced over his shoulder and came to realize he was the only one on deck.

If he jumped…

No one would notice.

**Chapter 26.**

Louis turned his attention back down at the dark and slowly churning water below anxiously.

This was a decision he had to think about before he just dived in.

His hands clenched themselves into fists at his sides.

There were so many pros and cons and possible outcomes that could come back and hit him if he just went on without thinking like he had done back in Ireland.

All noises and sounds around him were now drowned out by the sound of his own inner thoughts.

Steadily, he turned on his heel and began walking toward the other side of the ship.

He could feel the ship gradually moving away from the port, but he kept his stride consistent. With each foot forward, his mind overplayed imagines of his home that he’d missed for such a long time.

His mom, his sisters, his dad, and his friends…

It’d been so long since he’d been in their presence.

He could feel a lump going to his throat as he reached half-way across the deck.

The palace and all of its comforts ranging from his old bed to all of the food he’d been able to eat.

Louis’s steps came to a halt as he reached the other side of the still moving ship. His hand grazed over the ledge and he briefly thought of the way he’d be able to toss himself over… He’d just have to grip it and pull his body over the edge… It wouldn’t be difficult.

His blue eyes glanced down at the water observantly.

It was a near-black hue and contrasted with the white foam One Direction managed to stir up from its movements forward.

The dreams and feelings of the palace, his family, and everything were closer this time than ever before.

Now, he could finally go back home.

Tightening his hands over the ledge, Louis took a deep breath with a small smile stretching to his lips at the euphoric thoughts that were beginning to cloud his head and he allowed his eyes to close to completely allow the imagines of everything he’d missed since being on One Direction overtake him.

He hefted himself upward until his feet no longer were stationed on the wooden floorboards when suddenly he imagined how good it’d be to return to those wonderful rose gardens out in the back. How great it’d feel to actually sit down under one of the shady trees with Eleanor and just talk over how crazy the past few weeks had been…

Eleanor.

That couldn’t happen when he got back because Eleanor wouldn’t be there.

He was about to leave  _Eleanor._

The thought thundered down on him harder than he ever would have figured possible and his arms shook slightly, threatening to drop his suspended feet back to the floor.

Immediately, the prospect of going to get her so they could both make a getaway flashed into his head, but just as quickly as it did his knowledge of his best friend’s comfort and stability on the ship hit him.

Even if he got Eleanor, she wouldn’t want to go.

But he could  _not_ just leave her here.

Eleanor was practically family to him. They’d grown up together. They shared their secrets with one another. She knew more about him than anyone in his blood-family actually did.

Maybe if he let her bring Danielle along… But Danielle wouldn’t move without Liam… And Liam wouldn’t move without Niall and Zayn… And Zayn wouldn’t move without Harry.

 _Harry_.

With a grunt, Louis allowed his hands to drop to his sides and his feet hit the floor with a light thump.

He watched down at the moving water dully as the ship continued to move forward, away from the dock; each second that ticked was a chance away from his home and from freedom.

It now dawned upon him that he had almost went overboard, and if he had he would have had second thoughts about abandoning Eleanor later and the guilt would have consumed him alive.

He loved Eleanor so much and the fact that she hadn’t been the first thing on his mind was giving his stomach churning thoughts.

Yes, he wanted to go home more than anything but he’d rather stay onboard for eternity to make sure Eleanor remained safe than to get home and forever live in the dark on his best friend’s wellbeing.

Harry already didn’t like her much and with Louis out of the way, she’d probably get shot without a thought.

Thinking of the captain instantly made Louis give a huge groan while he allowed his head to rest into his hands in frustration.

If he left, he knew Harry’s reaction wouldn’t have been pretty.

It burned to think of the captain’s vulnerable expression when he thought Louis had been escaping when he hadn’t been in the first place.

Had Louis actually jumped and gone away forever, Harry probably wouldn’t have taken too well to it.

Louis didn’t want to think about it.

He didn’t know what he wanted to think about.

He could tell himself he could convince Eleanor to actually leave with him, but then he knew they’d both have to wait for the opportunity and it all seemed like too much…

And then Harry…

Harry…

The name kept floating throughout his head in a rather head throbbing manner.

He didn’t jump and he was stuck on Harry’s ship.

This time it was no one’s fault but his…

His chances for home were just thrown away for the umpteenth time and the chances of ever going home were becoming slimmer and slimmer with each day that seemed to pass.

But this time, the feeling this time for some reason when he took in the reality of things wasn’t as crushing as it had been before when his escape attempt failed.

“Why aren’t you jumping anymore?”

The voice managed to startle him in a way where he winced away from the source that was practically at his ear.

Louis bit his bottom lip, a low noise escaping his throat while he turned to face the pirate captain whose body was at an extremely close proximity to his back approaching the side.

Harry’s face was entirely expressionless, but unlike the normal frigid and detached masks he used to cover his emotions that gave off a sense of animosity, this time it was as though Harry was entirely void of any feelings.

No hidden annoyance, no hidden rage, no hidden hurt… No nothing.

It now came to his attention that Harry had been watching him at the edge, if not the whole time he was down on deck.

He prepared to open his mouth and defend himself, to say he didn’t jump because of Harry but for Eleanor’s sake, but as he did so and his eyes locked with Harry’s own plain and seemingly lifeless green irises, he paused.

If Harry had seen him…

“Why didn’t you try to stop me when you thought I was?” Louis voiced his thoughts out, slightly mystified.

Harry always seemed to have constant surveillance on him as unsettling as it was, like the Captain would go to far lengths to make sure Louis would stay onboard with him because of reasons Louis didn’t want to pursue in as he wasn’t too sure at this point, so the fact that he had the suspicion Louis was going to jump but didn’t intervene was surprising.

The younger male was silent for a moment and the only sound audible to Louis’s ears as he and Harry continued staring into one another’s eyes was the rush of water splashing beneath the ship’s movements forward.

“Are you going to answer me?” The brunet questioned in mild irritation when it seemed as though the situation was growing more uncomfortable that Louis could have registered earlier.

Harry’s light green eyes gave a single blink that Louis swallowed at, a small bulged in his throat went down along with it while he watched as the pirate’s gaze slowly began to move from Louis’s own eyes, and down trailing his face until it rest at his neck.

Louis found his body stiffening as Harry’s hands moved toward his neck. He awkwardly watched the captain’s entirely neutral facial features that remained intent on his neck and tried not to cringe away from his touch the moment that the cold feel of his hands grazed his own warm skin.

Confused on Harry’s actions, Louis opened his mouth to question his motives, but just as he did so he found himself gasping on air when Harry gave a quick and strong tug toward him from his neck and a small snapping noise went off.

All at once, Louis found his eyes widening in surprise as Harry openly watched down at the floor as the collar that had once been locked over Louis’s neck dropped down unceremoniously. The rope that it had been attached to that laid within the inside of Louis’s clothing draped downward from the fact the heavy weight supporting the leash was on the ground.

Harry took notice to the leash and reached out to pull the rest out from the royal’s clothes simply.

Breathless at the sudden action, Louis looked over at Harry in astonishment, “I—“

Before he could finish, he found himself being pushed backward as Harry’s face dove in towards his and their lips roughly collided. The kiss was short lived as Harry pulled back slightly to the point where their lips brushed against the others like a light feather.

A bit surprised by the attack, Louis gazed upward at Harry before the captain gave a deep exhale, “You’re not going to regret your decision.” The low octave words sent a chill down the royal’s spine as he found both his and Harry’s eyes locking once more.

Harry felt something for him that was more than what Louis originally thought… But it wasn’t until recently that Harry was  _actually_ showing it.

The two of them were warming up to each other and even if that were true, Louis knew that his first instinct was to jump when he had been given the opportunity.

Shaking his head, Louis attempted to pull away, however the moment he did Harry’s arms were snaking their way around his waist to keep him from retreating.

“Harry,” He warningly mumbled, his eyes meeting with the Captain that instantly lowered his own gaze to the floor.

“Sleep on my bed.” Harry replied, and at that moment, Louis found his breathing hitching at the rather childish emotion being put on the Captain’s face.

Harry’s lips were pushed out into a rather stubborn pout and he refused to get his eyes up to meet with Louis. It reminded Louis of his sisters when they were annoyed and wanted Louis to go their own way…

The expression on Harry was actually kind of cute.

Apparently impatient with Louis’s silence, Harry gave a noise that sounded like a huff before he flickered his green irises to the prince; the light in his eyes was almost laughable, “Zayn sleeps horrible. You’d be either setting yourself up or Niall and Liam.”

“I can always go with Eleanor and Danielle. I don’t want to take over your bed and make you sleep on the chair again.” Louis insisted simply, he could feel his lips threatening to crack into a smile the moment Harry’s eyes visibly widened at his response before they narrowed at him.

He was acting like a child.

“My bed is better.” He retorted out firmly.

Rolling his eyes, Louis shook his head right after Harry added in, “And I don’t mind sleeping on the chair, you know.”

Not up for an argument, the prince shook his head with a sigh, “Alright.”

Harry’s arms released themselves from around Louis’s waist and without another word he turned and began walking back in the direction of his quarters.

As Harry continued stalking away, Louis could only watch his back with some degree of mirth to his system, the probing and persistent thoughts of his chance to get away flashed over his head once more and found himself gazing out over his shoulder.

The dock was shrinking away and even if he jumped now, it’d be a lot of swimming if he wanted to make it back…

If he took a jump now, he could probably make it.

“Aren’t you coming, Princess?”

Harry’s voice snapped him out of his daze and he found himself turning back to the Captain that watched back at him with his signature smirk plastered on his lips. All forms of his former child-like demeanor were wiped clean from his face.

Louis released a sigh before he folded his arms over his chest and began approaching the younger male, “I’m coming, Princess  _Haz_.”

The nickname evidently made Harry’s smirk twitch into a frown, but instead the pirate snorted, “Stick to only calling me one of those in a sentence. Hearing both at the same time makes you sound really unintelligent.”

A grin immediately broke out on the royal’s face as he fell into step beside Harry, “Oh? Are you telling me calling you  _Princess Haz_ bothers you?”

“Don’t.”

“Would you prefer Princess Hazza?” Louis inquired, suddenly feeling much more entertained at the fact he found some way to irritate the curly haired male.

It was truly a rare opportunity and he’d have to thank Niall and Liam for bringing up the nickname to him at some point.

Harry scowled, his steps pausing the instant he was at the door and his hand was on the knob. He turned to Louis and gave his head a slight tilt, “Is that what you called me during your wet dream of me?”

Louis hadn’t thought it was possible to choke on air until that point.

He felt his face begin to heat up and his eyebrows furrowed at the pirate that gave a chuckle while entering the room and leaving Louis to follow in after him.

Louis could easily tell that the topic would never die with the captain for a very long time.

“If you call me that in front of anyone, I’ll make sure they know that’s where you got the name from.” He seemed to taunt out as he crossed over his study to the second door that would ultimately lead to his bedroom.

“You’re never going to let it go, will you?” Louis distastefully inquired with a cringe to his face while Harry began placing his hat on its rack, “No.”

Groaning, Louis started his way toward the bed where Dusty still laid on near the center, sleeping.

He sat on the edge of the mattress and gave the slumbering animal a gentle stroke on the back before he glanced over at Harry who was now beginning to strip off his coat.

Knowing he only ever did that when he was going in for bed, Louis found himself watching the other in bemusement.

Harry immediately glanced over at him plainly, “Is there a problem?”

“I should be asking  _you_ that.” The brunet gave him a judgmental scan with a toss to his hair, “You’re going to sleep now?”

Shrugging his shoulders Harry took a seat at the end of the bed to take off his boots, “Long day. I also want to wake up earlier than usual tomorrow so I’ll head in now. It’s practically sundown anyways.”

“You can’t just lay in bed and try to sleep. Your sleeping pattern won’t let you.”

“Sleeping patterns never stop Zayn so I won’t let it stop me.” Harry nonchalantly retorted after he finished rising up from the mattress.

Louis scowled as he watched the brunet begin his way toward the door.

It was sad to think Harry was going to try to actually get himself to sleep on the chair out there for the night, for  _another_ night.

Though it was true that it was his own fault because he’d persisted in getting Louis back as owner of the bed… But Louis didn’t know if that was reason enough to just let the Captain walk out like that.

“You know,” He voiced up and the moment he did he found himself inwardly questioning why he was even talking. However, he knew that there was no turning back from his words as Harry had already halted his walking and looked back at him to hear what he had to say, “You don’t have to sleep on the chair, right?”

The prince felt his face threatening to heat up and he found the more rational part of his brain repeatedly reassuring him that the only reason he was doing this was because he and Harry were friends.

For that, Louis tried to put on as a friendly a smile as he could muster against the blush that he could feel his ears and cheeks experiencing and he prayed to God that Harry didn’t notice. With Harry’s nonresponsive face, it was hard to tell if Harry even took note to his shame, but knowing him he more than likely did,

“Take the bed.” Louis tried to play off with a nod.

Harry cocked a single eyebrow upward, “You’re offering me the bed?”

“I didn’t stutter.”

He took the retort with a small chuckle and a shake to his head, “Princess, I gave you the bed for a reason. I don’t—“

“We can share it.”

Harry’s words stopped in the pit of his mouth and the Captain blinked twice to gaze at the royal as though to see if he heard right.

Sighing heavily, Louis found himself nodding in confirmation; he could feel his bolder side standing stronger on this decision while he sized Harry confidently, “Should I take your staring as a yes or a no?” He asked.

The curly haired pirate’s eyebrows furrowed, “Are you catching back that fever you had before?”

Rolling his eyes, Louis folded his arms over his chest, “That isn’t a proper answer, Haz.”

Harry’s mouth twisted into somewhat of a scowl before he began walking toward the bed, “If you insist.”

As he started to the other side of the bed, Louis found himself struck with a fleeting thought…

He stood to his feet and began walking in the direction of the door.

“Where are you going?” Harry questioned, and Louis didn’t have to see his face to know that the Captain was watching his back intensely.

Not bothering to turn around, Louis waved him off, “To speak to Eleanor, don’t worry, I’ll be back. Go to sleep.”

He half expected Harry to follow him on his way out but by the time he made his way out on deck, it was obvious the Captain wasn’t leaving the room.

While he began his way down to the lower decks for Eleanor and Danielle’s room, Louis began to think about how awkward it would have been had he really jumped earlier…

Eleanor’s fate would have torn him apart and he himself knew that he wouldn’t have been able to search for her because if he did, he would have had to reveal it was One Direction that took him and the last thing he wanted was all of their blood on his hands.

Harry kidnapped him, threatened his life, and killed more people than Louis could probably assume, but Louis was  _not_ a murderer.

If Harry died because of him, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

The same thing followed through with Liam, Niall, Zayn, and Danielle.

The thought of them dying left a chilling feeling in his body.

“Hey, Lou!” Eleanor greeted sweetly the moment Louis stepped inside of the room.

Danielle glanced up from the clothing trunk to give Louis a half smile and small wave before she went back to sorting.

Louis gave his friend a weak beam in return, “Yeah, hey—“

A loud thud instantly drowned out Louis’s words and he found himself watching the wall to his side with wide eyes as another impact soon followed and a shout from Liam vocally rose into the air, “Niall, stop it!”

The words were somewhat muffled through the walls and Louis glanced back to Danielle and Eleanor.

His best friend blushed and moved her eyes to the floor whereas Danielle groaned before walking to the wall and slamming her fist on it violently, “Keep it down!”

“Shut up, Danielle, we’re trying!” Zayn’s voice hissed from the other side of the wooden barrier. Lowly, Louis heard Niall whining and Liam frantically hushing someone along with Zayn urging both of them to just get into the bed.

When all became silent again, Louis took a breath and glanced back at the two brunettes, “Does that happen often?”

“Only when all three of them are in Josh’s room.” Danielle easily answered.

Confused, Louis questioned, “Why are they in Josh’s room?”

The curly haired female sighed before giving the wall another heavy pound, “Because they like disturbing me whenever Niall is drunk with their sexual antics!” She exclaimed loudly.

“Sorry, Danielle!”

“Fuck off!”

“Fuck off to your boyfriends, Malik!” Danielle countered hotly, “When Niall is drunk he’s very loud and active. These rooms may have somewhat thin walls, but they’re smaller than Liam and Zayn’s rooms so it’s easier to keep Nialler controlled. Josh always lets them rent out his room for the night when this happens.” She explained with a heavy exhale while she moved back to the trunk of clothing, “But even if it’s easier to control him, doesn’t mean those two always have him under control.”

Nodding slowly, Louis began moving toward the bed for a seat beside Eleanor who gave him a curious look, “So what brings you to our mystical girl zone?” She questioned.

“Speaking of which, we have your clothes in the bag near the door on your way out.” Danielle casually remarked, not tearing her attention from her work.

“Well…” The brunet mumbled out, “You’re my best friend so I can share stuff with you so this is one of those times where I’d love to hear your thoughts…”

Understandingly, she nodded her head, “Right, right. Not like this is new or anything, Louis.”

Laughing a bit, Louis watched her brightly, “Yeah, so I wanted to know what your thoughts would be if…” He slowly trailed off as he watched into Eleanor’s curious brown eyes.

Eleanor had already stated that she was One Direction’s official nurse. She had played card games with the crew that she considered her friends. Her  _lover_ was a part of the crew.

At the palace, her parents’ were both dead and she lived in the halls with a modest and timid shell aside from when she was with Louis whereas onboard she was  _open_ and less shy with the crew than she had been with her own friends back in London.

Eleanor actually liked being a part of the crew.

She liked being on One Direction.

The full realization of this was now hitting Louis more than ever before.

It was absolutely stupid for Louis to think that he could ever convince her to leave the ship with him when she had so much going for her here…

It was a criminal life but he knew his words would do nothing but make her feel bad about her choices.

He couldn’t bear to tell her now.

“Hm?” She tilted her head to the side in bemusement.

Louis instantly plastered on a fake smile to his lips, “I wanted to know your thoughts about my new outfit.” He gestured to his torso, “Harry and I bought it out today.”

Eleanor blinked once before surveying him, then smiling brightly and flashing him a thumbs up, “Your style is as good as always, Lou!”

“I know, I know.” He ran a hand through his hair, “Just wanted to make sure you saw it.” He grinned in a joking manner causing her to roll her eyes with a laugh, “Of course. You’re always looking great.”

“You and the Captain bought it together? Wow.” Danielle stated in wonder.

The royal gave her a confused look that she folded her arms over her chest at before fully sitting on the ground and allowing her back to lean against the bed post.

“Niall, no!”

“Zayn, I think you’re holding him a bit too hard!”

Ignoring the voices, Danielle nodded, “Be honest with me if you can, Princess, but are you and the Captain lovers?”

Louis could contain the snort that escaped him despite the fact he could feel his face beginning to rise up in temperature from the question.

Eleanor disapprovingly gazed at the curly haired pirate that shrugged despite her openness on the subject.

“No, we aren’t—“

“You guys should be lovers.” Danielle pressed with a wave to her hand, “If he looks at you like you’re a God but doesn’t openly touch your arse in public, its true love waiting to be unleashed.”

“ _Excuse me?”_

“Danielle!” Eleanor scolded the female that raised her hands up in defense, “I’m just saying! I mean, Harry looks at him the same way I looked at you before I told you how I felt! If he touched the Princess’s arse on deck, we’d all know that Harry only wanted a good fuck. But he doesn’t do that so he surprisingly wants more than that… Not that I didn’t see that coming. I mean, he treated him so much better than his own  _crew_. He never got tied to the mast for disrespect despite his hissy fits during his time here and Harry is always  _brighter_ with him around! If that isn’t love of the Harry Styles-edition, I sincerely don’t know what is.” The pirate defended,

She blew up a stray curl from her face, “But if you don’t like him then I suppose my words won’t affect you at all.” She shrugged her shoulders, “I will now go back to sorting out mine and El’s clothes now. Ignore me.” Danielle whistled tunelessly.

Eleanor gave a groan before turning back to Louis apologetically, “She’s right, ignore her. I know you don’t like Captain Styles like that Lou, don’t worry.”

Louis silently stood to his feet and without giving Eleanor or Danielle a word of farewell, he exited the room just as quickly as he had entered.

His steps leading out from the lowers decks and up on the main deck were quicker than he imagined.

It was quite possible that Danielle’s words didn’t leave an impression on him.

Harry didn’t look at him like that.

Harry looked at him like he was a type of meat.

Louis was more than positive that he’d notice if Harry watched at him with an emotion other than superiority or arrogance…

His eyes fleeted to the fallen collar that still remained in its same spot from when Harry had popped it off of his neck.

Harry’s eyes didn’t always look at him like he was a type of meat though when he thought about it…

Back at the marketplace and when they were on the upper deck near the wheel talking, Harry stared at him in a way that made Louis feel more awkward than he was willing to admit.

But he wouldn’t believe anything anyone told him unless he heard the words leave Harry’s mouth on personally.

It’d save him from the bother.

His hand easily opened the doorknob to Harry’s quarters where he walked across the study room to the bedroom door that he then slowly and carefully turned to open.

Louis’s eyes trailed over to the bed where Harry laid, his eyes shut and the sheets draped over his body while he remained rather stiffly to one side of the mattress.

The royal’s thoughts went over to Dusty, but before he could grow frantic at the thought of Harry crushing the kitten in his sleep, he found himself able to breathe with relief when he saw the kitten on the floor, but atop one of the bed’s pillows at the front of the post.

When it came to his attention that Harry had sacrificed his own pillow and left the one of Louis’s supposed side of the bed for the royal when he chose to go to bed, the prince could easily say he felt a bit exasperated at that.

Harry didn’t really have to do that for him.

Approaching the bed as quietly as he could to not wake up the captain, Louis found himself picking up the sole pillow on the empty side of the bed.

Harry’s arm was already propped under his head to act as a pillow, so it’d be a bit difficult to slip the cushion under without waking him.

“What do you think you’re doing, Princess?” Harry questioned, his eyes still closed and voice free of fatigue.

Obviously he wasn’t sleeping… Louis hadn’t been gone for exactly a long time.

Biting his bottom lip, Louis tried to appear casual, “I was giving you the pillow.” He honestly answered before hitting the pirate in the face with it lightly.

Harry audibly groaned prior to swatting away the cushion from his face, his green eyes boredly watching up at Louis in composure, “It’s for you when you want to sleep.”

“Well, I’m not sleeping for a while so keep the pillow, Hazza.”

“You’ll end up sleeping eventually so I won’t, Princess.”

“I’ll take it when I’m going to bed, now just shut up and take the pillow.” Louis commanded with an aggravated huff while he reached down to shove the pillow in his face.

Then, without warning, Louis gave a grunt as Harry’s hand grabbed his wrist before he was pulled down onto the bed.

He moved his eyes to meet with Harry’s own narrowed irises, “You’re ordering me?” His tone was challenging, however Louis rolled his eyes,

“Yes, I am.” Louis countered, almost daring him to speak back.

Harry scowled heavily and after a pause spoke, “Alright. I’ll follow your order, Your Highness… But,” Louis found his eyes widening as Harry further dragged him onto the bed, “You should probably stick around to make sure I keep using the pillow, right?”

The expression he wore was entirely blank and his eyes were void of any visible emotion much to Louis’s chagrin.

However, he gave a snort to show that he didn’t care before shaking his wrist from Harry’s grip, “So I can’t trust you?”

“Not with following orders.”

“A bit hypocritical considering your morals.”

“I can’t say much aside from the fact I’ve never been good under authority, so call it what you want.”

Louis shook his head and moved back to begin taking off his boots. Once he finished he turned back to the captain that partially had his head laid on the pillow, about a good half of it still stuck out on the empty side of the bed.

“You know the other side of the pillow is just as good as the other, right?” The royal sarcastically questioned as he pulled himself under the sheets.

Harry cracked an eye open, his arms folding over his chest, “I know. That’s why I left it for you.”

A bit taken by surprise by the smooth response, Louis caught his words as quickly as he could, “How charming of you, Hazza.” Louis hummed as he found himself laying his head on the pillow, right beside Harry.

He shook his head lightly while he moved his body to face the same direction as the pirate captain, thus avoiding their bodies facing one another. Their bodies were already incredibly close and if Louis felt right, Harry wasn’t wearing a shirt, but had no idea of his trousers and pants.

Harry didn’t reply and Louis found himself just watching ahead at the wall from where he was situated.

If he had been asked where he saw himself a year ago, this was the last situation he would have imagined himself in all honesty.

It was all real that it was nearly unbelievable…

He found himself freezing in surprise the moment that he felt Harry’s arms begin to wrap themselves around his torso, the male’s body moved closer to his until there was no more space set between them and the moment Harry’s face moved into Louis’s hair mumbling a familiar phrase that somewhat made Louis’s perspective a bit brighter, the royal could only release a single sigh before reassuringly patting at the younger male’s hands.

“I’m sure I won’t.”

**Chapter 27.**

Truth be told, Louis had always thought he was the one that set his own course in life.

He had always been loud, spontaneous, and generally a walking time bomb waiting to combust at any given moment. At the palace his tutor greatly disliked him for the mischievous and I-do-what-I-want-because-I-can attitude, not that Louis cared.

Louis was constantly warped in his own little world, where he was the one in control.

Thinking about it now, it was all bullshit.

Even back at London, everything he’d done had been scheduled and controlled by those behind the scenes.

They worked him like a puppet.

He didn’t have a choice in the foods he ate or what he could do aside from when he wasn’t being taught something or attending a party. His vacations weren’t planned on his own accord and even which town he could go to where restricted beyond his decision.

He hadn’t been too thoughtful on all of that back when he was there…

But even so, he supposed it didn’t matter anyways. It hadn’t been prominent enough to bother him then, so it shouldn’t worry him at this point in time.

Though he had to admit, that was a bit of a reminder that sometimes, it just felt better to lay back and let things be.

Going with the flow and letting everything unravel on its own would be in his best interests instead of constantly fretting, because he was  _Louis Tomlinson_. He never fretted.

Life was supposed to be fun.

He allowed the sentence to replay in his mind as he felt Harry’s arms tighten around his torso and the pirate captain seemed to move even closer to his front.

Within the course of the night it appeared at one point in his sleep Louis had rolled over and his body had been put in a position to face Harry. Harry’s arms remained wrapped around him as though to stop from him from straying too far away while they slept, and all though it was a bit uncomfortable and annoying, Louis had to admit that the perseverance Harry’s subconscious had when it came to making as minimal personal space between the two as possible was really high.

Yawning, Louis moved his head down to lean against Harry’s exposed collar tiredly.

Harry responded to this by resting his face into the top of his hair where Louis felt him give a heavy exhale.

“Shouldn’t you be up? I thought you wanted to be up early.” Louis muttered lowly, already aware that the captain was awake.

Admittedly the fact that as long as Louis had been up, Harry’s even breathing and lax movements made it appear as though he were still sleeping but since their last experience in bed together, Louis knew better. That was just the pirate’s biggest give away.

“Good morning, Princess.” Harry greeted. He pushed up the hair from the royal’s temple to give him a kiss on the forehead that Louis cringed at, “So you’re just going to lay in bed holding me all day?” Truth be told, the position they were both in was incredibly comfortable.

Louis gazed up at the captain that appeared bored, however the instant his and Louis’s eyes met, a sparkle lit up in his irises and he smiled diminutively, “I want to.”

Rolling his eyes, Louis tried to pull away, though when he tried he was stopped by Harry’s arms that kept him held steady against the other.

Resisting the urge to make an off-hand comment on it, Louis sighed, “That wouldn’t be very Captain-like of you.”

“I can’t find it in me to care too much.” Harry retorted with a crooked smile fixing its way onto his lips slyly. Louis snorted before he found himself freezing the instant Harry’s lips pressed against his jaw. The feel was gentle but firm and he didn’t have time to comment on it as Harry continued his fleeting kisses down to his neck, sending a rather pleasuring sensation throughout the prince’s body.

“I just want to stay here with you.” The captain lowly informed in-between his kisses. Louis found his hands straying to the brunet’s curly hair loosely with a slight moan. The one specific area that the collar had once been at was now free and more sensitive than the rest of his neck, and the delicate feeling of Harry’s lips on it made him feel a bit weak.

With a sigh, Harry ceased his kisses before collapsing his face into the crook of Louis’s neck, his arms tightening around him stubbornly, “I want to stay here with you as long as I can.” He admitted simply, “I want to forget all the bad things that happened between us. I’d make every mistake I’ve done in the past disappear if I could, Princess. But I know I can’t.”

“We’ve been over this.” Louis firmly groaned, his stomach clenching at the mere thought of his earlier days onboard, “Just… Forget it, okay? I accepted your apology from before.”

He didn’t want his mind straying back into those darker times that almost seemed miles away.

Everything had changed so suddenly and literally overnight since then, but it had been for the better.

“Honestly, I don’t know if I should say you’re stupid or that just adds to your charm.” Harry mumbled out, his arms finally loosening from around Louis.

The royal snorted, “Add it to my charm. I’m anything but stupid.”

His eyes gazed down at Captain that shook his head, “It makes you more likable.” He gradually brought his head up to watch into the older male’s eyes more directly from beneath the front curls of his hair, “Not that it’s even possible to like you more.”

Louis’s face evidently grew warmer and he glanced away awkwardly, “Thanks.”

“Haha, your blush is cute.”

“Fuck off.”

“Maybe if you ask nicely.”

Snorting, Louis retorted, “Kindly, fuck off, Princess Haz.”

Almost instantly, Harry’s eyes narrowed into slits threateningly, “Stop.” His voice was low and nearly resembled a growl. Despite this, Louis couldn’t help the challenging grin from appear on his lips in response to that.

It was too good to know he was getting a reaction like this from him.

“Oh? I’m sorry. Do you prefer Princess Hazza?” He sweetly asked while his grin slowly but surely turning into an all out smirk.

“I’m serious.” Harry stated sternly, his eyes darkening.

Louis found no intimidation in his words, instead he rolled his eyes with a scoff, “Or else what?”

Harry’s lips pressed into a scowl, “You’ll regret it.” He raised himself up on the bed and Louis looked up at him plainly.

Still not finding anything to fear, Louis’s shoulders shrugged, “Whatever you say, Princess Haz—“ Louis’s words came to an instant halt the instant that Harry’s hands were at his side and beneath his armpits.

The tickling sensation that greeted his body came so suddenly, and Louis couldn’t help himself as his mouth opened and he let out a loud stream of laughter as Harry now loomed over him and began to increase his fingers’ speed.

“Stop it!” Louis demanded in between his breathless laughs while he felt Harry’s hands slowly begin to trail down to his sides, which arguably made him laugh even harder.

Harry smirked, his attacks not easing, “I warned you, Princess.” His tone was still so solemn despite the fact he was allowing Louis to undergo torture.

His feet gave several kicks while the laughter kept streaming out of his mouth excessively, “Stop! I’ll kick you in the face!” He managed to warn, though with his forced tone and corrupted laughter, he doubted he sounded like a force to challenge, especially to Harry.

The pirate captain snorted, “Say you’ll stop calling me those terrible nicknames and I’ll stop.”

“N-never!”

“Fine. I won’t stop.” Harry decided on simply before his hands were once again beneath Louis’s arms and now more rapidly moving his fingers to stimulate a reaction out of the brunet that was now stiffly trying to push the offender away with his weak arms.

Harry scoffed, easily evading Louis’s poor attempts at defense, “Princess, if this keeps going I have a feeling that this will be the second time I got you wet and made you dirty the sheets, eh?” The smirk the rose to his face was one that brought dread to Louis’s conscious despite the large grin that was plastered on his face.

Why did he have to bring that up?

He was entirely grateful for the fact his face was already hot and red from the fact Harry wouldn’t ease on the tickling.

“You’re such a fucking asshole! Get off of me!” Louis sneered after he finally gathered enough strength to push Harry’s hands off of him.

Harry clearly didn’t make an effort to dive back down and continue, instead he blankly watched Louis rise up from his back panting heavily.

“I didn’t know you were so ticklish.”

“Oh, come off it, you curly haired cunt.”

Louis ran a hand through his hair as threw his feet over the bed and sat up straighter. One of his hands moved to wipe his eyes that had begun filling with tears from the massive amount of laughter he’d been prompted with and just as it did, Harry was moving off of the mattress as well.

The royal couldn’t help but allow his eyes to remain on the pirate captain’s back side as he walked toward the trunk toward the end of the room.

“You like sleeping naked, don’t you?” Louis decided to inquire with a shake to his head.

Harry didn’t turn around, “I just like being naked in general, really…” He paused while opening the trunk before he averted his attention back to the seated prince, “I think you would too if you gave it a chance, Princess.”

“I’ll pass on that offer.” Louis snorted as he reached for his boots.

“Your loss, not mine.”

-

“Ugh, so everyone on the ship appears to be shining with a morning sex glow.” Danielle plainly grumbled, her arms folded over her chest while both she and Eleanor leaned against the side of the ship. The two watched as Zayn, Liam, and Niall all appeared from the lower decks.

The fact that they were all holding hands, Zayn’s hair was so messy, Niall had what looked like a red sore on his exposed neck, and Liam wore that goofy ‘nothing-happened’ smile instantly signaled to the female that those three had done more than changing their clothes since they woke up.

She could only thank God for willing her and Eleanor to get up before them.

It would have been hell to hear them in the morning.

The simple radiance that seemed to bounce off the three was overwhelming despite the distance Danielle stood from them.

Zayn was in the middle, his hands warmly clasped around Liam and Niall’s hands as the two trailed beside him with the same brightened mood.

Shaking her head, Danielle willed herself to not notice the slight limp that Niall clearly had in his walk.

“Poor little leprechaun.” She sighed lowly, “I feel sorry for his arse sometimes.”

Eleanor giggled, her cheeks a light rosy shade while she placed a hand on Danielle’s shoulder to catch her attention, “Shouldn’t we not stare? What if they see us or hear us and—“

“Tsh. Don’t be scared if they hear.  _They_ should be the ones ashamed, not us! Yesterday they were so loud and obnoxious!”

“You have a point, but they may get mad, won’t they? Especially Zayn?” She timidly inquired with furrowed eyebrows and a small frown on her face while she said so.

The expression the brunet wore made Danielle feel torn between laughing and hugging her due to the fact it showed Eleanor was genuinely concerned with the others’ opinions and feelings… Something Danielle was straightforwardly unworried about the effects her taunts held on the three pirates.

Settling on grabbing Eleanor’s free hand with a grin, Danielle intertwined their fingers gently with a reassuring smile moving to her lips, “You worry too much about them. Haha, really there’s no reason to watch your words,  _especially_ when it comes to their love lives. Yeah, Zayn gets annoyed, but it’s because he’s  _Zayn_  and  _I’m_ the one teasing. I mean…” She trailed off, her eyes moving to the three young men that had all apparently stopped in the middle of the deck.

Curiously, Eleanor and Danielle could only look on as Zayn and Niall both laughed and grinned before kissing Liam on both his cheeks. The First Mate’s face lit up as he smiled and pulled the two closer to him.

“Liam!” Danielle shouted out, unable to stop the smirk from spreading to her face the moment all three boys simultaneously raised their heads up and turned to her direction.

Without another word, she used her freehand to beckon him over.

Eleanor unsurely rocked on her feet once, “What are you doing, Dani?” She questioned quietly, confusion and a hint of anxiety in her words.

Danielle laughed, “What I do best.”

Going along with the female pirate’s call, Liam tried to get himself from between Niall and Zayn’s arms and after a bit of struggling away from Zayn’s more possessive and reluctant grip, the First Mate found himself dawning upon his pseudo-sister with a shy beam.

“Good morning, Danielle…”

“Yeah,  _good_ morning indeed.” She snickered, “I imagine Niall and Zayn made it  _real_ good for you anyways.”

Liam’s eyebrows shot up and he awkwardly gazed away with a grunt, “I’m so sorry if we woke you up.”

“No, you didn’t. You  _kept_ me up last night though.” She honestly countered before his head fell into his hands with a groan, “I told Zayn. I told him. But he didn’t listen and we kept you up longer than we thought. Oh god, I’m so sorry, Danielle.” He hurriedly muttered out, clearly fidgeting in embarrassment.

Reaching her hand out to pinch one of his cheeks, Danielle snorted, “You’re always sorry and yet I don’t think you are judging from how you don’t exactly try to contain your scream when—“

“Liam, is everything okay?” Zayn interrupted with a scowl on his face. He slid himself beside Liam, his arm wrapping easily around his lover’s waist. He gave Danielle an irritated look, “Or are you just wasting his time more so than usual, Danielle?”

“Oh, so now if I’m not giving him a blowjob I’m wasting his time?” She arched a challenging brow in his direction.

Liam grunted, “Both of you can settle down. Danielle, watch your language. Zayn, its fine.”

“Liam, I don’t know why you constantly forget I’m actually older than you. My language doesn’t need to be watched! I’m just saying because Zayn always seems to get a little clingy whenever I want to privately talk to you—“

“That’s fucking bullshit and you know it. Privately talk to him? Please. You do it to get a fucking rise out of me and it isn’t cute or funny so you need to stop.”

“Excuse you, but I think I have the right to talk to whoever I want, regardless if it’s one of your boyfriends or not! I don’t see you ever getting this defensive when I talk to Niall!”

“Only because you never pull Niall aside to talk to him! You saw us all together and then you decide to call Liam out and rip him from us! Stop acting like you don’t know what you’re doing!”

“Acting? I’m flattered you think of me as a performer, unfortunately that’s not the type that I am. I called Liam out because I had something to say, not to rip apart your precious mating triangle.”

“Can you both just calm down? It’s not that serious!”

“Stay out of this, Liam.”

“Yeah, Danielle needs to be reminded of her boundaries  _again_. Since she can’t seem to ever remember.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here, twat!”

“Are you going to do something about it?”

“Maybe I will if you keep running your mouth!”

“Guys! Seriously, take it easy! No fighting!”

“Aha. It’s great seeing them get along so nicely.” Eleanor kindly added in with her brown eyes looking off past the quarreling three. Liam stood in between both Danielle and Zayn in the midst of their argument.

Niall rocked on his heel, a grin growing on his face as his eyes followed the same path as Eleanor, “I know right?” He rhetorically questioned while he and the brunette watched over at both Louis and Harry after they emerged from Harry’s quarters, both easily distinguishable as being within a conversation.

“Basically, I really wanted to try drama. Seeing actors doing what they do just seemed so fun and lively. My tutor was a total pain in the ass and only ever went off on me when I asked about fitting that somewhere into my studies because apparently, drama and acting are the subjects of failures.” Louis continued on as both he and Harry exited out the pirate’s study.

Harry listened on, his eyes watching Louis’s face to gauge his speech.

Ever since that night after their sword duel, Harry always had this particular look in his eyes whenever he was listening to Louis say something about himself. It was different from Harry’s normal bored and disinterested gaze that he normally carried. It was entirely the opposite in fact.

Whenever Harry looked at him like that it was obvious to Louis that Harry was not only listening, but it was as though he were clinging to every single word that came out of Louis’s mouth like they were a gift from God.

It showed Louis that as crazy as it was, Harry cared about what he had to say.

“I get that drama wouldn’t help me later on, but there’s no harm in having a hobby that doesn’t involve paperwork or firing arrows, right?” He sighed out at the thought.

Harry nodded, “I haven’t even met your tutor and I don’t like him. Not because he’s a royalist but because he sounds really horrible.”

“He  _is_ horrible. He could have been an anti-royalist or a royalist and I’m sure anyone could dislike him!” Louis honestly remarked, “God, at times when I got the discipline rod for the stupidest things ever I wanted to just execute him but I couldn’t.”

The curly haired male’s eyes squinted, “Well… That’s interesting. But I have to go about the ship now.”

Understanding, Louis nodded, “Yeah. You probably would have been finished by now if you would have started from when you woke up.”

“Don’t nag me.” Harry insipidly waved off, causing Louis to cross his arms over his chest, “You’re such a child.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry gazed his eyes toward the door that led to the lower decks before turning his attention back to Louis. Quickly, he leaned over to whisper into the prince’s ear, his hand gripping the shorter male’s shoulder firmly, “When I’m finished we can talk at the upper deck again.”

Louis blinked his eyes as he attempted to fight the smile that nearly made it to his lips.

As Harry pulled away, he gave the brunet a quick kiss on the cheek before walking off without another note to Louis’s being.

Running his hand through his hair plainly, Louis continued his battle against the beam that was beginning to take over his face while he began moving over to the side of ship.

He liked talking with Harry about himself in all honesty.

It was much like talking to Eleanor, except it was different.

Harry’s opinions seemed to clash in a more unpredictable way than the reserved brunette.

He didn’t always agree with Louis and when he didn’t he was very upfront about it as a opposed to Eleanor who still got qualms about getting into an argument with Louis when she didn’t agree with him.

Speaking to him felt good.

“Louis! Louis William Tomlinson!”

Turning over his shoulder, Louis found himself grinning as he made eye contact with Niall while the Irishman began walking toward him from the other side of the deck. Behind him, Louis could see Eleanor and Liam actively trying to split up Danielle and Zayn from a verbal argument that appeared to be growing more heated.

“Niall! Niall James Horan!” Louis mocked out in a similar way to the blonde who laughed easily.

“So… How are you this fine morning?” The blonde questioned after he slung an arm over the royal’s shoulder.

Louis let out a breath, “Good, good. Woke up on the right side of the bed, it’d seem. You?”

For some reason, Niall’s cheeks notably flared a red and he averted his blue eyes from Louis’s own with a short whistle, “It was okay, I guess.”

“Ah. I see.” Louis slowly nodded while he allowed himself to be led back over to where Liam, Eleanor, Zayn, and Danielle stood.

“Oh! I forgot to ask! Zayn told Liam and I about the kitten you got for Harry! Where is she now!? Is she cute!? What’s her name!?” Niall excitedly asked, his eyes eager.

The older male couldn’t help but chuckle, “She’s sleeping in Harry’s room, she’s the cutest thing ever, and her name is Dusty.” The answers came out a sing-song manner and Niall blissfully released a breath, “If Zayn is really her God Father, would it be too much for me to be the God Pa?”

“What?”

“It’s only fair. Liam can be the God Daddy, Danielle the God Mother, and Eleanor the God Mummy. We’re all like a family.” The pirate pointed out with a nod.

Louis squinted his eyes, “Zayn called himself the God Father after I yelled at him for calling me Dusty’s ‘Mum’ while Harry was apparently the ‘Dad’. They’re both idiots of course so don’t take the God Father thing too serious.”

“Aww… Okay, then if you’re so sure.”

“But aside from that, what are you guys arguing about this time?” Louis inquired in slight amusement as he and Niall came upon the still bickering quartet.

For the most part it appeared as the intensity of their fight had toned down since Louis had seen it from afar.

At this point, Danielle’s finger waving had come to a stop and Zayn looked more apathetic at best to the situation.

Eleanor and Liam remained in between them, the two of them facing their specific other and were calmly attempting to pacify them.

Hearing Louis’s voice, all four turned toward him in unison.

All of them instantly wore smiles and grins that Louis returned whole-heartedly, “Isn’t it a little too early for a Danielle-Zayn fall out anyways?” He sarcastically mocked with a knowing look pointed at Zayn’s way.

“See, Louis understands.” Liam proclaimed as he pushed Zayn in his forehead, “It’s too early for you two to dislike each other’s existence.”

Danielle scoffed while her arms folded over her chest, “I don’t see anyone telling that to Captain in regards to all of us.”

Instantly, everyone began laughing at the sarcastic jab, all seeming to deem it as true. Niall’s own laughter appeared to be the most prominent as he released his arms from over Louis’s shoulder in favor of going about to Zayn and rest his head on the taller male’s shoulder, “That’s funny because it’s true!”

Zayn shook his head with his whole arms folding. He gave Louis a slight smirk, “Well, I don’t think you should say  _all_ of us.”

The instant Louis took note of the stare he had to roll his eyes, “Yes, I think you should say all of us. Harry shares his dislike of me whenever I start saying things he isn’t appreciative of.”

“You mean something like ‘No, I’m too tired, use your hand tonight’?” Danielle’s eyebrows gave a suggestive wiggle easily causing both Niall and Zayn to erupt into a large fit of laugher, Eleanor to put a hand to her mouth in surprise, though it was clear from her eyes that she found mirth in her girlfriend’s words, and Liam to scrunch his eyebrows in mild confusion.

Louis shook his head at the teasing as he moved to the edge of the ship. “Haha. Funny.” He blandly stated while he watched his eyes out to the water below.

“Come on, babe.” Zayn snickered, “It’s a joke not Harry’s dick, don’t take it so hard.”

Niall and Danielle gave snorts before they began cackling madly. Niall gripped Zayn’s shoulder more tightly before he began to laugh into the crook of Zayn’s neck, “Maybe that’s why he woke up in such a good mood this morning.”

Not taking in to their taunts, Louis shrugged his shoulders before he began hefting himself up on the edge of the ship.

The reactions he was greeted with surprised him in such a way that it was nearly laughable.

It was silent for a single moment, with the chuckles put down to a sudden hush along with Liam’s failed attempts to sound scolding and not-entertained by the innuendos aimed the royal’s way coming to an abrupt end.

Bemused, Louis propped himself to take a seat on the ledge and turn back to the crew members of the ship that were all watching him with wide eyes.

“Are you guys okay?” He slowly questioned right as Danielle put a hand to her heart and Liam gave a huge sigh of relief,

“Oh God, you scared me for you a second.” Liam breathed out.

“I nearly started freaking out! Holy shit, you’re fucking crazy Louis! I thought you were going to jump overboard!” Niall exclaimed loudly with a flail to his arms. Zayn winced as one of the blonde’s hands hit him in the face before he turned his attention back to Louis who was now beginning to snicker.

The fact that they all honestly thought he was going to jump off because of their stupid jokes was funny.

Even Eleanor looked shaken, her face clearly showing her apprehension that hadn’t entirely disappeared from his actions earlier.

Unable to stop him, Louis put a hand to his mouth and tried to contain his slowly growing laughter.

Zayn exhaled, “We  _all_ thought you were about to jump. I thought the teasing made you think you were done or something. I seriously felt my heart drop.”

“All of your faces though!” Louis laughed out, “Like one moment I look at you all, you’re all laughing and having fun then I turn my back and then all of you are watching me like I suddenly grew breasts or something. Too hilarious!”

Danielle sniffed indignantly, her expression displaying the irritation she held in regards to Louis’s amusement over the situation. Niall and Zayn appeared to share the same emotions and were both shaking their heads.

“Can you blame us when we thought you were about to commit? You even scared me, Lou.” Eleanor admitted with a fond smile on her face.

Louis swung his feet leisurely, “But what  _would_ you guys have done if I jumped? None of you would have jumped in after me, huh?” He cheekily asked while sticking his foot in Liam’s direction.

The First Mate swatted the prince’s foot playfully, “I would have.”

Mockingly, Louis made a kissy face the brunet’s way, “My knight in shining armor.”

He meant it was every bit of sarcasm he had in him and he hadn’t entirely expected for both Niall and Zayn to be at Liam’s side with that not-so cleverly hidden degree of possessiveness on their faces while they both watched Louis skeptically.

Confused, the brunet could only give them a look that vaguely questioned their intelligence.

They couldn’t possibly think he was flirting with Liam.

Danielle gave a chuckle, “Don’t let the Captain hear that. He may not be happy.”

“He’ll be alright.” Louis shot back quickly, not wanting the topic to stray toward Harry.

“Oh! Speaking of Harry, I’m sure he already started his rounds on the ship! If he sees I’m not doing anything he’ll be upset!” Liam immediately recalled before he began snaking his arms out of Zayn and Niall’s clasps.

The curly haired female pursed her lips, “He’s right. Don’t want the Captain catching a fit… Was he in a good mood before he went to sleep, Princess?” She inquired after she made it a few steps toward the lower decks.

Louis shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. I guess?”

Waving him off dismissively, Danielle turned back around and ran back to the edge of the ship to give Eleanor a quick kiss on the cheek and goodbye before scurrying off once more.

“Awww.” Zayn, Niall, and Louis immediately teased the blushing brunette that turned and hid her face in a flustered daze.

Louis averted his attention to Niall and Zayn with a cocked eyebrow, “Aren’t you two going to do work before Harry sees you and goes off?”

“I really should. Harry’ll be all snappy if he catches me.” Niall stated, “But I’m lazy and I’m kind of hungry too… So I’ll just sneak into the kitchen and get something to eat and then try to pretend to work.” He deviously laughed making Zayn roll his eyes, “Perfect plan, Nialler.”

Niall proudly nodded, “I know right? But I’ll see you around, Zayn.” He turned to kiss the dark haired pirate on the lips briefly, however Louis watched with mild interest as Zayn’s lips persisted into the kiss longer than the Irishman had intended and after a few seconds, Niall managed to rip away, a large grin on his as he did so.

Laughing, he shook his head off at the three, “Later, El, Lou!” He waved prior to turning and retreating.

Zayn lowly chuckled, his arms folding over his chest while he moved his body back toward Louis and Eleanor,

Arching a brow, Louis gave Zayn a look that questioned why he wasn’t leaving as well causing him to smirk, “I am not going to do work because even though on a normal occasion our dear Captain would probably toss me off the ship for being lazy, the fact that I am with you will be enough for his bad mood to be pushed back far sufficiently to stop any physical punishments he’d have for me.”

“Basically since I’m here all he’ll do is scream at you?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m not so sure if I like that fact I’m being used as a nullifier.”

“Well, there isn’t much you can do about it unless you can somehow suck your existence from Harry’s memories.” The dark haired male shrugged off, “On the plus side, I can’t help but notice how much brighter you seem today. Haha, did Harry make you feel good this morning or something?”

Louis narrowed his eyes, “Judging from your hair, I’m sure Niall and Liam make you feel pretty good earlier this morning.”

“They did and I’m not ashamed to admit it honestly.”

Curiously, Louis leaned forward, “You know, I haven’t said anything about it before, but your relationship with those two is actually really fascinating.”

Blinking once, Zayn gazed back into Louis’s wonder-filled cerulean irises in questioning for him to continue.

With a chuckle and a shuffle in his seat, the prince tilted his head to the side a bit, “I’m not judging it or anything, and I never have. But the fact you guys seem so happy with each other when it’s not something exactly standard is pretty amazing. It’s nice to be in a relationship with one person who loves you as much as you love them, but having  _two_ just looks so, wow. I’m just voicing my thoughts is all.”

Seemingly understanding now, Zayn smiled and nodded his head, “Yeah, it’s not ‘standard’ but it’s what we have and I love it just the way it is.”

“It must feel great knowing there are two people out there who have a lot of love for you like that.”

“Not as great as loving those two people back. The two of them are practically my entire world if it isn’t obvious. I’d never be able to live without one of them.” Zayn gave a blissful beam as he turned his eyes from the ground to watch back into Louis’s gaze once more.

Louis smiled back diminutively, “They look back at you like you’re their whole world too.”

“I know… The look they give me and the look I give them is actually pretty similar to the one that Danielle gives Eleanor,” Zayn airily remarked with a swift glance to the meekly standing female that smiled shyly with her eyes fleeting to the ground, “And the one that Harry gives you.” The pirate admitted simply, returning his eyes to Louis.

Not prepared for the topic change to Harry once more, Louis gave a breath; his hand ran through his hair distractedly while he glanced away from Zayn, his face growing visibly warmer with each second that passed by.

Zayn sighed heavily, “If you can’t see it by now, I’d hope you’d at least  _try_ to see it for yourself, mate. No harm in it, yeah?”

The member of One Direction resisted the urge to sigh while Louis awkwardly began to adjust himself in his seat; his eyes gazed off as though he were in absent thought.

“Louis, be careful if you move back anymore you’re going to—“

Eleanor’s words went mute in Zayn’s ears as the pirate could only watch on as Louis’s body went sliding off the edge of the ship and falling backward off of One Direction.

The brunet’s arms were in front of him as though to grab hold of something that wasn’t there to cease his plummet down below with a barely audible gasp that hardly made it into Zayn’s ears as he was rushing forward to grab hold of him.

His attempt was unsuccessful along with Eleanor who had apparently ran over to where Louis had been sitting less than a second ago with a horrified shout for him.

Zayn felt his panic rise the moment he clenched the edge of the ship and watched down at the water below where a single space of water beside the ship churned in a way unlike the rest of the sea that was moved by the ship.

“Louis!” He hollered down below the ship as loud as he could in search of the royal who had yet to surface from beneath the ocean.

Fear panged into his system before he turned to Eleanor who was repeatedly shouting the prince’s name, her tone of voice sounding on the verge of tears.

“Does he know how to swim!?” Zayn hissed out to the brunette that shakily turned to him before she rapidly shook her head, her brown eyes evidently beginning to well up with water, “H-He does, b-but—“

“But what!? Eleanor!”

The female trembled as she fearfully watched at Zayn, “He knows but he’s a weak swimmer! He can’t last long! Zayn, please! I can’t swim! Please, jump for him before he…” She didn’t finish, the word too morbid for her to utter.

Everything was so sudden, but Zayn was able to piece everything together and without another second fleeing by Zayn took off running toward the lower decks as fast as he could.

He didn’t dare turn around as he sprinted, “Eleanor, go get Niall! Tell him to tell Dan to drop the anchor! We need to stop the ship now!” He commanded without turning around, he knew she was scared but he also knew she was smart enough to know that standing around and crying wasn’t going to help.

When Zayn reached the door to the lower decks, he ripped it open as hard as he could before he proceeded to jump down the steps three at a time.

If he was going by the logic of Harry’s normal routine that meant that the captain had to be somewhere around the treasury…

Zayn willed himself to run faster down the halls, already knowing that every second that moved by was another second that could be pushing Louis’s last breath out of his lungs. The thought was stomach clenching.

“Harry!” Zayn exclaimed as he turned down the corridor that the treasury room happened to be down.

Harry, who had been speaking with another crew member glanced over his shoulder back at Zayn with the blank face he always carried, however when he caught sight of Zayn’s expression he arched a brow, “What is it, Zayn?” He plainly inquired.

Panting for a breath, Zayn kept his eyes leveled with his Captain’s, “Louis fell overboard,” The moment his words were uttered, Harry’s once empty face instantly seemed to fill up with emotion as his green eyes visibly widened, “And he’s a horrible swimmer.”

His last sentence nearly finished in a straggle because before he even fully ended his speech, Harry was dashing toward him and past him.

The curly haired captain was already gone by the time Zayn managed to catch his breath and turn back to go along.

He immediately began going over his actions with a more rational mind at this point.

He’d gotten Harry first because there was no point in anything if Louis died before anyone could reach him, and with Harry successfully reaching him, if Eleanor got to Niall in time then the ship should be stopping long enough for them to send out some sort of rope for Harry and Louis to make it back onboard.

When he reviewed how fool-proof he’d been with it he felt a sense of relief wash over him.

“Zayn?”

Hearing his name caused him to stop his steps after he’d turned down the hall to now face Liam, who stood by the doorway to the steps that led to the upper decks with a look of disorientation, “Harry seems upset about something, he practically ran me over! Did you see him? Is he okay?” He worriedly asked.

Zayn shook his head as he reached out to grab the brunet’s hand before he began leading him up the stairs quickly, “Well, long story short, Louis fell overboard.”

“Oh, no. Can he swim!?”

“According to Eleanor he can swim but not for too long so I ran to tell the Captain and I’m assuming right about now he’s swimming out to him. So we’re not in a red zone right now.” Zayn briefed simply right as they both made it out on deck.

From their spot, they were able to see Danielle, Eleanor, and Niall rushing down the stairs from the upper part of the ship where the wheel was located.

All of them the moment they touched the floor were rushing off to the side of the ship that Louis had previously been sitting.

Seeing this, Zayn felt himself nearly struggling to keep up as Liam’s steps passed him and he became the one being dragged along forward.

The two stopped where the other three had, and Zayn found himself anxiously biting his lip as he looked out into the water but saw no signs of either Harry or Louis.

“Where are they!?” Liam asked, right when the dark haired pirate came to notice with intense relief that One Direction had stopped its advancing movements on the sea.

Just after Liam’s call, several feet backward where the ship had once been, presumably when Louis had fell, Zayn felt himself grow incredibly at ease at the sight of Harry in the water with Louis at his side as they approached the ship at a steady pace.

“Niall, you have the rope, right?”

The Irishman nodded in confirmation while holding up part of the thick and long lengthened rope before he tossed one end of it over the side of the ship for the two within the water to grab when they neared.

-

“You’re okay, right Princess?” Harry breathlessly asked the male that still clung a single arm around his neck. Their body heat was entirely nonexistence in contrast to the freezing cold water that surrounded them.

Louis weakly nodded his head as an answer, his teeth uncontrollably clacking against one another from the frigidness they paddled through.

That was enough to make Harry silence himself. He just wanted an answer.

Right after, Louis turned his face away from beside Harry and began releasing more dry coughs that made the Captain’s heart clench up pathetically. Both their hair was matted over their eyes but Harry still focused his attention on seeing if Louis displayed any sign of pain from his struggle in swimming earlier.

His eyes caught a glimpse of the rope that the crew had left to hang for them to get pulled back up onboard and knowing they were going to make it up safely made him return his eyes to the royal attached to him.

He didn’t say anything… Only taking in the elder male’s movements that appeared stiff aside from when he was hacking up water from the pit of his throat with several coughs.

Once he grabbed hold of the rope that hung near the ship’s base, Harry gave it a single tug without glancing away from Louis’s face.

“Princess, if you want to make it up there without fail, I’m going to need you to wrap your arms around my neck.” Harry informed plainly. His ears could hear the others of the crew above talking about them, though he opted to ignore them in favor of Louis who now watched at the Captain incredulously.

It was nearly laughable.

“What? Why?”

“Is there water in your ear or do you just like being difficult? Do it so we can get up there when they pull the rope.”

Louis pushed back some of his hair from his face to watch at Harry with narrowed eyes and Harry couldn’t help himself from chuckling despite their situation.

Even when they were stuck in the chilling ocean Louis still found his ways to be defiant and bossy.

“I doubt you want to stay in here all day. The salt water will make your perfect skin pruney. That enough should make you eager to get out.” He chided out lightly causing Louis to groan with a roll of his eyes before he threw both of his arms around Harry’s neck.

The prince pulled himself close to pirate captain within the water and Harry found a smile forming on his lips as his head went over Louis’s shoulder. After he gave the rope another pull to signal them to start bringing them up, he allowed his free hand to wrap itself around Louis’s waist to bring them closer to one another.

Louis was still trembling violently and Harry could only scowl at the fact he was shaken.

When he had jumped, the royal had been swimming fine for the most part, but it was obvious that he would have ran out of energy fast due to the ocean’s temperature stealing his heat and slowing him down.

His swimming style was weird on its own too.

It made a part of him wonder if this was Louis’s first time ever being in the ocean.

As they were hefted upward, Harry felt Louis mold closer into him, presumably from fear of falling back down.

“You could have died you know.” Harry informed plainly when they were halfway to the top.

Louis gave a cough, “Really, Harry?  I had no clue that I could have died out in the fucking freezing cold ocean. That is news to me. I had no idea that could have happened. Wow my whole outlook on life has changed now. My eyes are opened. I’m now scarred of the sea forever. It nearly took my life and I didn’t even know. This is crazy.”

Expecting that sort of response, Harry snorted, “Or saying a simple ‘Thank you’ would have been nice. You know, one of my favorite things about you is your wondrous display of manners, Princess.”

Honestly, he didn’t know why he expected any form of gratitude from Louis in the first place.

He was too proud, much like Harry himself.

The pirate knew had the situation been flipped, he wouldn’t have had the modesty to thank his savior. He would have kept quiet. So for that, he didn’t entirely blame the male in his arms and instead he settled on enjoying the close proximity they shared with one another as their feet dangled and upper bodies hugged close.

“Fine, thank you. My knight in shining armor.” Louis stated out in such a vague way that even Harry had no clue if it was sarcasm or not, but before he could question it he found his eyes widening as Louis pulled his head back from his shoulder and gave him a quick kiss on the lips that lasted about two seconds before he pulled away and rested his head back on Harry’s shoulder.

Harry could only stare ahead in a bit of a daze as they finally reached the edged of the ship where the others were all crowded and worriedly calling out their frets on Louis’s wellbeing.

Louis detached himself from Harry’s body and climbed over the ledge back onto One Direction, completely disregarding Harry as he was immediately enveloped in a group hug composed of Niall, Eleanor, Danielle, Liam, and Zayn.

“Guys, I’m fine, I promise!” Louis laughed out as he tried to shake them off to no avail.

The sight made Harry feel a bit of irritation come onto him as he gave his hair a shake from the water that still dripped off of it when he managed to get over the ledge and back onboard.

His gaze was apparently caught on one by one from the group embrace and gave a scoff while walking back toward where he’d tossed his hat and overcoat prior to jumping overboard for Louis earlier. “Don’t you all have work to do? Stop standing around doing nothing.” He commanded as he reached down for his coat.

However, just as he did so he found himself gasping in surprise as the wind was practically knocked out of him when Louis’s body slammed into his for a strong hug, “Second group hug on Hazza Princess of the Seven Seas!” He hollered out loudly and just like that Harry found himself in the center of a large and laughing group hug.

Under a normal circumstance, he would have applauded his crew to actually have the courage to hug him so openly even if it was all at once since they knew he’d more than likely hurt them physically, but his mind was too busy watching at Louis.

Louis, wet hair and soaked clothes, was hugging him tight with the same bright smile that greatly mirrored the one that Harry had first seen in the first portrait he’d seen of the prince that made him first fall head over heels for him.

Louis was finally smiling that wonderful and beautiful smile that Harry loved.

It made Harry forget about everything else in the world because at that moment, only Louis mattered. Harry wished there was some way for him to always make the prince smile like that… It made him feel unbelievably good to see him so happy.

It just felt right.

“Okay, we should get off of them; they need to change their clothes before they catch a cold.” Liam thoughtfully advised as the hug slowly began to dissolve, and with it, Louis’s shining smile disappeared as well.

The process made Harry want to reach out to the brunet and make him happy once more just for the expression to be seen again, but instead he stood firm, his own expression falling back into its form neutral state, however he couldn’t take his eyes off of the royal.

“Hey, Princess! You didn’t take your clothes from our room! Come on you can change into that!”

“Don’t call me that! And oh yeah… Yeah, I think I’ll wear it. Hopefully your fashion sense doesn’t have bad taste, Danielle.”

“Haha, don’t worry, Lou. Her fashion sense is brilliant! Also, if your throat is dry or anything I’ll see if I have some medicine for you?”

“Sounds great, El!”

“You’re letting your eyes talk for you, Haz.” Zayn laughed out, snapping Harry from his daze and directing his attention back to the three males that remained with him.

Rolling his eyes, Harry shook his head, “Get back to work.”

“If his eyes could talk they’d be saying nothing but ‘Hearts’ ‘Love’ and ‘Louis’ over and over.” Niall agreed with a slight snicker that earned him a leer from the Captain.

Liam folded his arms over his chest as Harry picked up his hat from the floor.

Smiling, the First Mate reassuringly watched the younger male, “The way that you look at him is nothing to be ashamed of Harry. He makes you happy and that’s great.”

Shrugging him off, Harry said nothing more as he began walking back to his quarters, his mind fleeting back to the smile Louis wore once more.

It looked a million times better in person.

-

“Okay Josh, start the beat!” Danielle urged the pirate who nodded before his hands began to hit against the hollow boxes in front of him rhythmically.

Louis had to admit, Josh had a lot of musical talent.

That afternoon after his fall into the sea, he’d spent a majority of his time downstairs with both Danielle and Eleanor where the three of them just talked about their future destinations and some of Danielle’s past.

They’d both learned more so that Danielle was a really talented dancer.

Being from the royal house and having to attend so many parties Louis and Eleanor both had some degree of dancing abilities as well and Danielle had been excited to learn that.

After dinner, Danielle had been insistent on having a dance with Eleanor after she learnt that the brunette had a bit of talent with it. Eleanor had been a bit nervous and repeatedly told Danielle that she only knew to slow dance and sometimes she had two left feet, but Danielle disregarded that, more determined to share a dance with her girlfriend than ever.

Eleanor had practically been pleading with Louis to help her when the female pirate dragged her out of the dining room and out on deck so Louis found himself trailing after them to see what exactly the headstrong female had in store.

She’d apparently gotten a few crew members to set up a few crates out on deck along with some instruments that Louis had no idea were even onboard and she was getting them to start the music for both her and Eleanor to begin dancing.

Eleanor apprehensively twiddled with her fingers, “I’m not so sure, Danielle…”

“You’ll do fine!” Niall cheered on from his seat beside Josh.

Louis shook his head as Eleanor flusteredly covered her face with her hands, “I’ll mess up!”

“You probably will!” Louis teased out with a grin before Danielle smacked in the chest with a warning glare.

The prince held the spot he’d been hit with a glower returned to the fierce female that turned back to her girlfriend reassuringly, “Don’t worry! You won’t! And even if you do, what’s wrong with messing up? No one is perfect.”

Shrugging, Louis glanced off, “Aside from me.”

“Louis.”

“I speak the truth.”

“Anyways,” Danielle pointedly groaned, “Come on,” She skipped forward to grab both of Eleanor’s hands before glancing over at the crew with the instruments, “Go with something fast!” She instructed with a grin and instantly, the music that chimed started off lively.

Eleanor smiled shyly as Danielle began to lead her in the dance across the open space on deck.

Louis could only shake his head with a laugh while he watched Eleanor try to keep up with eccentric pirate who had her curls bouncing all over the place with each shake of her body she preformed.

Feeling a bit pumped from the music, he found himself turning toward Niall who still sat watching on the two females with a grin on his face.

Approaching him confidently, Louis cleared his throat to fully get the Irishman’s attention “May I have this dance, Mr. Horan?” He inquired with an opened hand the blonde’s way.

“Nope!”

“Sorry, Louis, but his hand is taken for this dance.”

Louis blinked his eyes before turning over his shoulder as he watched both Liam and Zayn standing behind him.

“Why didn’t you guy tell me Danielle got the guys out for another dance!?” Liam questioned to Niall with a swat to the seated boy’s arm.

Niall painfully held his wounded limb, “I didn’t know! I was downstairs with Josh when she got everyone gathering!”

Snickering, Zayn took hold of both male’s hands and then proceeded to drag both of them out to open deck, “You two can dance and I’ll watch.”

“No! If we’re dancing you have to dance too!”

“But you two know I don’t dance—“

“Bullshit! You can’t say that after we know how your body moves better than anyone!”

The royal unsurely nodded at the group that now appeared entirely oblivious to everyone but themselves.

Their relationship dynamic was still unique in Louis’s eyes… Entertaining too.

His eyes moved over to where Danielle and Eleanor were still actively dancing around, Eleanor now seemingly more into it as she laughed along with Danielle with each step and twirl they took with one another.

He was half tempted to just sit back and watch the different couple’s progression throughout the night but when he felt a hand come to his shoulder he found himself stiffening in surprise before he turned around.

Harry, who’d been absent from dinner, a noteworthy thought that Louis kept stationed within him, looked onto him with one of his infamous smirks that sparked a similar one from Louis’s lips as he extended his hand toward pirate suggestively,

“Before you ask, yes it’s fine for you to have this dance with me. I’m flattered you even considered it, Princess Haz.”

The pirate captain took hold of his hand and at that moment, Louis became aware of how much bigger Harry’s hands were in comparison to his. Harry gave a low chuckle, “Letting me dance with you and being flattered by it… You seemed to have had a good day today despite falling into the ocean and nearly dying.”

Louis allowed himself to be pulled out more into the open by the younger male and he couldn’t help but snort, “A Prince can’t deny a dance with a Princess, after all.”

“But a Princess can deny a dance with a Prince. Which is why I’m surprised you didn’t deny me, Princess.” Harry retorted easily before he held both of Louis’s hands close. The two locked eyes briefly beneath the light of the several lanterns illuminating the deck and Louis attempted intertwine their fingers, finding a bit of satisfaction in the fact he’d been able to make Harry’s expression change from nothing to bemusement.

It was as though he was surprised Louis was allowing any kind of intimacy between them.

Honestly, it was more funny than anything.

“Alright. You’re so sure you’re royalty? Let’s see if you can dance like you are. Let’s go Prince Haz.”

**Chapter 28.**

“So… Did you have a good time?” Liam questioned, his voice was so filled with that familiar teasing tone that Louis could practically see it while he assisted the First Mate in picking up the wooden crate from the center of the deck.

Louis was still trying to catch his breath after his dance with Harry. His feet felt kind of sore from the brutal amount of times that that Harry’s gigantic hooves practically smashed them into the floorboards while they danced just minutes ago.

Harry kept trying to dominate the dance, take over the lead and guide Louis through it, but it was as though he didn’t even know how to dance properly to the beat that they were provided with. Due to that, Louis tried repeatedly to take away the dominance in the dance only to have it taken away from him and have his toes graciously stepped on by Harry’s boots over and over.

The curly haired captain obviously knew what he was doing because Louis frequently expressed his displeasure in the way things were going, even threatening to end the dance at one point. Harry treated the empty threat like nothing, brushing it off and grasping Louis tighter in response.

In between his and Harry’s movement, he’d caught glimpses of Niall and Liam dancing with one another while Zayn watched on in amusement and Danielle and Eleanor sitting on the crates near Josh and the rest of the pirates who supplied the upbeat music.

At one point, it was apparent that it was only he and Harry that shared the dance floor because everyone who’d been sitting down to the side began clapping their hands in rhythm while giving occasional whistles and teasing calls to the pair, Niall and Liam’s voices were very noticeable in it.

As embarrassing as it had been, Louis couldn’t find it in him to stop because he and Harry had admittedly, been having a good time.

It had to be his first time dancing in front of people that didn’t expect a lot out of him.

Whenever he’d gone to royal galas and he’d been forcefully set up with different noblewomen for the sake of appearances, it’d been a stiff process… Ballroom dancing with a girl who didn’t have much interest in him and had been pushed toward him for the sake of her parents’ image got irritating after a few years.

Dancing with Harry where he was allowed to mess up—not that he did— and he was allowed to criticize him for every wrong move and laugh at whatever he did, was a nice change.

“No, of course not. I’m sure you heard me complaining about Harry’s titanic feet always finding their way on top of mine.” The royal sarcastically piped with a sigh right when he and the pirate rested the large box to the edge of the ship.

The fact that the duty of cleaning up the deck after they adjusted a few things had been a game of ‘Not It’ kind of made Louis question a lot of things.

First Dan stated it was getting late and his hands were beginning to cramp, then Josh held up his hands and quickly said ‘Not it!’ and before Louis knew it, a loud surge of ‘Not it’s choired throughout the deck and everyone was rushing to the stairs down below the ship.

It’d just been him, Harry, and Liam left and Harry scoffed before letting Louis go and walking to his quarters without another word.

Liam had apologized and insisted Louis could go and he’d clean up everything himself, but Louis felt bad about leaving everything to him.

But how exactly was One Direction one of the most deadly ships on the seas when the pirates all acted like little kids when it came to cleaning up?

Almost as strange as the fact that Harry could be three different people in one body.

With a crack to his knuckles, Liam gave Louis a knowing look and a smile, “Don’t blame him all too much.”

“Because he’s Harry and all of you have a nice time kissing his ass since he’s a ‘good guy’?”

The comment slipped out his mouth faster than he expected and Liam’s eyebrows furrowed considerably at the insult, causing Louis to innocently grin at him as a means to just move on with his reasoning. Liam shook his head in response before walking back out to the sole remaining crate that was misplaced.

Louis followed after him to grab the other side of the crate before the two of them hefted it up and began moving in sync to the end of the ship once more.

“Funny,” Liam dryly remarked, “But no, his ass doesn’t taste nearly as good as it looks, I’m sure you discovered that first hand, right?”

“Shut up.”

The First Mate chuckled before he began lowering himself downward to place the crate down. The moment the crate managed to hit the ground, Louis was instantly hopping upward while he dusted his hands off by clasping them together swiftly.

He watched over at Liam as the brunet ran a hand through his hair, “Honestly though… This was literally Harry’s first time actually participating in one of our dancing sessions out here. I’m actually surprised he can dance, albeit awfully but still he put effort in and that’s what counts right?” He laughed out with a joyful smile on his face.

Louis momentarily paused to consider that.

Given Harry’s background, it wasn’t actually a surprise that he kept fumbling with the dance. He couldn’t have possibly had a time to formally learn how to dance after all.

“Where are you going?” Louis curiously questioned the younger male as Liam started walking in a way opposite from the lower decks, which was a sight that could have easily sent questions into anyone’s minds.

Liam glanced over his shoulder with a smile, “Storage room!”

“What? Why?”

“Someone needs to mop the deck before the morning! Lads spilled all their alcohol on deck!”

The royal scowled, his eyes glancing below at the floor where several puddles were visible beneath the dimly lit lanterns that remained burning at the ends of the ship.

He briefly considered asking Liam why he even bothered, but then he stopped himself short. Liam had been the last in the childish game of ‘Not It’ and he had to straighten out on deck since Harry and Louis obviously weren’t.

“You’re going to help me again?” Liam inquired surprised as Louis began walking in his general direction. His face visibly brightened beneath the small flames that illuminated One Direction’s deck, and a smile came across his face widely, “I didn’t think royalty were exactly all too keen on cleaning up messes, not even their own.”

It was probably the fact that Liam seemed so happy and upbeat to do the job that made Louis feel slightly less guilty as he slowly shook his head with a sheepish beam, “Uh, not really. I was going into Harry’s quarters for bed.”

“Oh…”

Louis would have figured the atmosphere would have turned incredibly awkward from there and he contemplated offering his assistance with mopping for a split second before Liam was waving him off, “Bye! Have fun with the Captain! Not like I can give you a better show than he can! All I can do is dance with a mop, I’m sure he can find better ways to entertain you, Your Highness!”

Due to the fact that it was Liam saying this, Louis had a hard time deciphering if it was a sexual reference or not, something he hated and he had a feeling Liam knew.

Rolling his eyes with a grunt, the royal gave a grumble before stalking off toward Harry’s quarters.

As he slipped into the study and walked across to the second door leading to the bedroom, he couldn’t exactly say he was shocked by the fact Harry wasn’t sleeping on the chair again. He supposed it was an official thing that they shared the bed now, as weird as it was.

His hands grasped the knob before he easily opened it and walked inside.

It was strange not seeing Dusty on the pillow as she had been previously and the fact he didn’t catch sight of her made Louis’s eyebrows quirk as he gazed over at Harry as he sat at his own of the bed his shirt being pulled overhead.

The spectacle caused him to raise a brow as he took a bit of notice to the fact that Harry, kind of like himself had worked up a bit of sweat from their dancing session.

“Enjoying the view?” Harry inquired, not bothering to turn around as he bent down to apparently begin untying his boots.

“Getting comfortable?” Louis decided to counter while he folded his arms over his chest.

The heat inside of the room hadn’t been too conspicuous before, but now for some reason, Louis could feel it along with a stiffening in his pants.

Louis leisurely strolled over toward the bed, attempting to ignore the more irrational part of his brain that had been suppressed for the past couple nights as Harry got to his feet now and made his way over to his rack to hang up his hat.

“Just a little bit.” The pirate captain answered airily as he moved over to take a seat at the end of the mattress. He gave Louis a playful gaze, “Did you like our dance as much as I did?”

Scoffing, Louis approached him with a confident appeal about himself, “Depends on how much you liked it.”

Harry shrugged, “I liked it enough to do it again sometime.”

The next moments played in Louis’s favor happened all too quickly and he had to admit that he was probably being incredibly stupid by acting out on his urges.

He just needed to get off some built up steam and he knew Harry wouldn’t exactly be unwilling to assist him.

Without warning, Louis took a spot over the pirate captain’s body and Louis had to admit the face he made the instant that Louis was moving on top of him was one to remember, quite similar to the one he had when he discovered Louis’s fencing talent.

“Princess, what are you doing—“

Louis cut off his words with a kiss, strong and firm in a similar way that Harry had done to him many times before.

Just as quickly as Harry just remained stiff and unmoving, he was returning the kiss just as powerfully.

It was funny how he didn’t waste any time…

Harry’s arms slipped behind him and pulled him closer to his body, Louis’s feet practically leaving the ground as he felt himself growing more desperate for his clothes to come off. His hands scratched at Harry’s exposed skin and the curly haired male simply aggressed further into the kiss.

Louis didn’t abandon his full attention from Harry’s mouth and instead began moving his hands down to his trousers to signal him to take them off. He gave the top of them a tug downward right as he allowed Harry’s tongue to gain entrance to his mouth.

The heat between them was growing and Louis removed his hands from Harry’s body in favor of taking down his own trousers.

Then, all at once it seemed as though Harry’s entire body froze from beneath him.

Louis opened his eyes, surprised at the sudden change to gaze down at the pirate that had his lips twisted into a scowl. His green eyes watched up into Louis’s so seriously it looked near to the point of hostility, an emotion that Louis hadn’t seen directed towards him in a while that it was nearly startling.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

Harry’s voice was so low and hushed that it made Louis stop to think over his actions once more.

It wouldn’t mean anything after all, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Louis ran a hand through Harry’s curls once, enjoying the feel of the younger male’s hair in his hands before he nodded his head once and the moment he did what he was doing fully came down to weigh on his mind.

He continued watching down at Harry, whose eyes blankly observed him for some sort of verbal response that Louis found himself unable to provide.

Even if this meant nothing to him, that didn’t mean it didn’t mean something to Harry.

The reality of this came crashing down on him harder than he expected and Louis found a guilt ridden churn begin within his gut.

What he wanted to do would have no change on himself, but considering what Harry may feel for him, it’d be different.

If this continued he’d only be setting Harry’s feelings up for nothing. Making this go further would only be entirely selfish on his part, no matter how much he felt like getting off.

“Yeah, I thought so.” Harry sighed right as he allowed his to drop to his sides, “A tip to help you survive in the real world; don’t force yourself to do stuff to make other people happy when you know it’ll hurt you more than help. You may think it’s a good thing, but in reality you’re pretty much shitting on yourself  _and_ the other person, Princess.”

Louis heaved a groan, his eyes fleeting away in embarrassment. “That’s not it.” He admittedly responded, he pushed himself upward and off from the other male’s body in favor of standing up.

It was evident that Harry was thinking something else of his persistence into their intimacy and Louis wasn’t so sure if he liked the Captain’s interception of his actions.

“Are you sure? Because it seems like you’re pitying me, which I don’t appreciate seeing as I  _don’t_ need pity.” Harry’s tone was flat and blunt, apparently back to his sealed up Captain Styles’ ways.

Louis ran a hand over his face tiredly with a short moan, “I am not pitying you. I just… Well, I got lost in the moment.” He honestly replied, “So come off it. I don’t pity you. I have no reason to.”

It was true in a sense. Here on the ship, there was really no reason to give Harry any form of pity considering their roles at the moment.

The curly haired captain scowled now, irritation evident on his face as he sat upward, “Funny, because last time I recalled, your family took mine away from me.” The look of annoyance that crossed the male’s face vanished in a single instant as he now appeared entirely void of emotion, his eyes peering into Louis’s solemnly, “Not that I’m saying that because of that you should pity me, but that is a reason to, right?”

For some reason, Louis had a feeling he’d somehow just woken up a slumbering beast.

Harry’s gaze on him was intense and the glower was practically burning into him, despite this, Louis kept his head held high and he stared back just as powerfully, unwilling to be intimidated.

“I think that’s the problem with you all in the upper class and royals. You’re all children with too much power in your hands.” He craned his neck to the side with a disgusted sneer on his face.

“That’s not true—“

“It is and you know it.” Harry interrupted, nearly startling the brunet as he stood to his feet faster than Louis anticipated. Surprised at his movement, the royal took a step backward; however Harry took another step forward toward him, “When something doesn’t go your way you focus on getting rid of whatever caused the resistance. When there’s something different from you, you go out of your way to destroy it because you can’t have anyone not being the same as you. When there are people suffering you claim you care but anyone with eyes can see that you don’t. You’re all fucking children.”

Harry’s consistent steps ahead led him right in front of Louis’s face as he lowered his head down right in front of the prince to speak his words out firmly and strongly.

Louis took a deep breath, his eyes not fleeting away from Harry’s green irises before he easily asked, “Is that any different from how you act on this ship?”

The words probably would have had a brutal impact on him, more so than Harry would ever admit, but Louis had to get it out.

Everything that Harry described was practically how the Captain behaved to both his and Eleanor’s presence onboard.

“If anyone disobeys an order you punish them. If you’re upper class you think so badly about them before you even know anything about them. Don’t even get me started on how you can bullshit your way through anything with that blank face of yours. Someone could be dying right before your eyes and you could say you’re sorry but we’d both know you wouldn’t care. Tell me then Harry, are you  _really_ that different from the ‘childish’ image you seem to uphold to the Crown?” Louis challenged out with narrowing eyes as he tilted his head more up, allowing both him and Harry to go nose to nose.

Harry silently continued glaring into his eyes and for that, Louis found triumphant floating into the pit of his stomach.

“It makes sense then, doesn’t it?” Harry questioned in a bit of a sneer now, “Children have wild imaginations. Only children would have the capability to create a monster like me, similar to how the Crown literally made me what I am today. I’m the product of the upper class’s sins, Princess.” He gave a humorless chuckle as he now began walking backward.

His words made the royal bite his inner cheek with furrowed eyebrows of disapproval. Louis didn’t like where the topic was straying at this point.

Running a hand through his hair, Harry gave a heavy sigh before he took a seat on the edge of the mattress, “My mum and sister, the only two people I loved in the world as much as I did you at the time were practically killed right in front of me during the Catholic Massacre. I was just a kid, not even a teen, I was a  _kid_.” His tone was exasperated and longing, a manner that Louis wasn’t too familiar with hearing from him.

Not sure on what to do, he simply stood and watched the captain lower his head from his seat, “The world had been so black and white back then before everything turned blurred and gray for so long.”

Harry’s Blank Years before his pirate days…

The memory of the briefing on Harry’s past was still in his mind, a bit forgotten, but it was still there.

“I have no clue how or why I survived for years without a purpose, but I did and the outcome made my world go from monotone to a dark red. You can say whatever you want, but just don’t ever forget who created me. Not my mother, Captain Cowell, and not even the soldiers that failed to kill me back during the Massacre, but the Crown, your father to be precise. I’m cruel, but at least I’m not afraid to admit it.”

Louis slowly approached the seated male that just appeared entirely done away with frustration; the passive aggression evident on his face was nearly laughable despite the grim nature of the conversation.

Putting a calming hand on his leg, Louis took a seat down on the floor right beside the younger male that had his head hung down silently.

The moment their eyes collided, the prince pulled a small comforting smile as he stretched his legs out more comfortably against the floorboards.

“I know it probably won’t mean much,” Louis began simply; he tried to keep his voice light and considerate, not to provoke the unstable state that Harry was clearly in.

He had a feeling that if he said the wrong thing, something regrettable would occur.

Now, Harry didn’t need to be yelled at, to be told he was wrong; he needed something he’d probably been deprived of since his family was killed…

Harry’s eyes expressionlessly peered down into Louis’s more positive irises as the brunet’s smile widened, “But I still don’t think you’re a monster, Harry.”

Harry noticeably tensed and Louis continued, “If you don’t like thinking of yourself as a monster, then how about you stop doing the things that make you see yourself in that light?” He questioned nonchalantly.

“With you here with me, I want to try.”

Not anticipating that sort of answer, Louis flinched ever so slightly, and the instant he did, he prayed that it went unnoticed by the pirate though he knew very well that it hadn’t.

“Yeah, it’s weird to you but even more infuriating to me.” Harry pulled his leg away in an attempt to remove Louis’s hand from it while he turned his head away, “But I can’t help it that you make me want to be a better person. I want to change for you.” He confessed shortly with a scowl.

With dulling eyes, Louis tried to ignore the embarrassment that was threatening to overcome him.

He was half tempted to ask why, but a part of him protested against it and instead he used his free hand to brush through his hair, a smirk coming to his face, “A tip to help you survive in the  _real world_ ; don’t force yourself to do stuff to make other people happy when you know it’ll hurt you more than help. You may think it’s a good thing, but in reality you’re pretty much shitting on yourself and the other person,  _Princess Haz_.” Louis perfectly recited.

Snorting, Harry turned to give the royal a rather mocking look before Louis began rising to his feet with a stretch, “Looks like the Prince of the Seven Seas isn’t much different from the Prince of the United Kingdom, huh?”

“Only difference is I’m not forcing myself to do what I’m doing.” Harry defended himself with a shake to his head.

“Oh? Then who is? Dusty?” Louis jeered with a roll to his eyes right before Harry shrugged, “I said before I  _want_ to change for you, Princess. Not out of pity or anything pathetic like that, but because I know it’d make you happy and when you’re happy it makes me—“

“I think we should go to bed now.” He interrupted smoothly, unwilling to let his already burning red ears hear the rest.

Louis knew where it was going. He knew where the conversation was taking a turn and he didn’t want it to take it that way.

It was embarrassing and awkward.

Harry gave him a doubtful look and moved to get into his spot on the bed.

As he did so, Louis found himself scowling fiercely while walking toward his own side of the mattress. “Sleep on your end and don’t come near mine.”

“We own ends now?” Harry asked with a scoff that caused Louis to grit his teeth, “If you move over to my side I’ll punch your face in.”

“And risk messing up your pretty nails? How daring of you.”

“Stop being such a smart ass. I’ll make you sleep on the floor.”

“I got you upset. I should shut up before you get kinky.”

Louis stopped himself from retorting, instead pulling up the sheets over his body as he isolated himself to the edge of the bed silently. The air within the room easily caved into that of a rather uneasy hush the moment Harry turned out the candles and made his way back into the bed.

To Louis’s surprise, Harry didn’t come close to him and instead he remained over on his part of the bed.

Sighing, Louis adjusted himself a bit more toward the center of the mattress, “Good night, Harry.” He kept it short and simple, even resisting the urge to call him Princess out of respect for the moment they shared earlier.

“Good night. I hope your dreams of me are dry tonight, Princess.”

Why didn’t Harry have any respect?

**Chapter 29.**

“You were friends with benefits…”

The words that came out of Louis’s mouth were sluggish and they were paired with an equally slow nod and slightly disbelieving expression from the royal, his mouth slackened in a rather unflattering way that reflected his opinion on the prospective.

Liam’s eyes were askew from Louis’s own gaze whereas Zayn appeared entirely unashamed.

The First Mate of One Direction heaved a breath and glanced out to the ocean from his spot at the edge of the ship, “It’s weird to you? I had a feeling it would be… Ah… Zayn, why did you tell him?” His words were breathlessly spoken with a hint of tiredness in them.

Louis made a popping noise with his tongue within the confines of his mouth as he raised his eyebrows, “It’s not really weird… It’s just—“

“Weird?” Zayn intervened simply, a bit of a smirk on his lips while he watched Louis open his mouth as though to defend himself, though the brunet quickly closed his lips with his eyebrows furrowed in resemblance to a child that was about to speak up but was stopped once they reviewed their unspoken words within their head.

Unable to help himself, Zayn let out a small laugh at the expression of conflict that Louis wore on his face.

Not taking too kindly to the fact he was obviously being laughed at, Louis’s lips pursed and he gave Zayn a hit on the shoulder.

The pirate ceased his mirth audibly, but he still watched at the royal with amusement within his eyes.

“Okay, I admit it’s just a little weird.” Louis confessed uneasily, his eyes briefly meeting Liam, who groaned as he allowed his head to droop over the ledge of the ship. “Not that I’m judging you both or anything.”

“You little liar.” Zayn snorted, his arms folding over his chest before he sized Louis, “You’re judging us.”

Louis couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at the pirate’s words.

Talking with Zayn and Liam up near the front of the was actually more refreshing than Louis would have ever thought, especially after the past three days had been filled with rain and fog that made running across the deck a challenge without falling down.

He’d been forced to stay inside of Harry’s room for a majority of those days… Harry only becoming truly stern on him being cooped up when Louis tried making a new game out of sliding across the deck when the rain was falling at its lightest.

Of course it was probably for Louis’s own good considering how he’d ended up slamming into the mast during one of his slides but it was still all in good fun. He’d even gotten Niall to join him.

Being stuck up in Harry’s room and his study was boring, but Dusty made it more tolerable.

Since today the rain was finally gone, he’d planned on visiting Eleanor at last to privately discuss some things that had been clouding his mind over the passing few days, but he had ran into both Liam and Zayn and somehow had been sucked into a conversation with them that led to more.

Something more like discussing how exactly Zayn and Liam functioned prior to meeting Niall…

The story was amusing to a wide degree even if Louis found it a bit strange.

“But hey, I don’t care if you judge. I’m not exactly going to let myself be offended by someone who used to criticize people for the type of wig they wore.” Zayn shrugged plainly.

Rolling his eyes, Louis gave him a short glare, “I did  _not_ do that.”

“Oh, my mistake. You criticized them for the type of dresses they wore. Forgive me, Your Highness?”

“Alright, enough of the sarcasm before I pass out.” Liam cleared with a wave to his hand in Zayn’s direction. The dark haired male pursed his lips in response but he didn’t retort.

Louis moved to lean his back on the ship’s ledge leisurely, a shake to his head accompanied with his movements, “Being friends with benefits is actually a really interesting way to start a relationship if you want me to be completely honest.” He threw in easily, having to stop himself from reacting to Liam’s exasperated sigh and Zayn’s pitiful head shake.

Liam licked his lips with a frown, “That isn’t how it started. You’re twisting things.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure that’s how it started.”

“Tease us all you want. At the end of the day Harry supported our relationship and even helped partake in it so suck on that, or don’t because I know the only thing you like to suck is literally attached to Harry, but you know.”

“Zayn.”

“What?”

With a roll to his eyes once more, Louis fought back the irritation threatening to ruse up to him once more as Liam scolded Zayn, though the large smile of entertainment was too large to go unnoticed.

“It’s so typical of you to bring Harry up. Almost predictable.” Louis curtly remarked, attempting to remain as calm as possible when he locked gazes with Zayn’s brown irises.

Zayn’s lips quirked into a smirk, “Don’t act like you don’t like it when I do.” His voice came out into more of a song towards the end of his words and Louis scoffed before he turned to face out to the ocean outward.

He felt Zayn step closer to his side and Louis pulled in his lips as the younger male slung his arm over his shoulder, “Don’t think I don’t see those tiny smiles you get whenever I bring up Haz. Not the references to your sex life with him, but when I bring him up in general in his complete and total devotion to the cause that is your existence, I can see you brighten up.”

Snorting, Louis attempted to shrug the pirate’s arm off, “Hah. No.” Even with his words, he could feel his face growing considerably warmer from such an embarrassing topic.

“Aww, you’re blushing.” Liam took notice to his obviously reddened cheeks before he gave them a single poke with his index finger.

Zayn snickered as he pulled Louis closer to him and the royal could only stiffen as his cheek was repeatedly poked by Liam, who was now teasing him on his embarrassment.

The older brunet tried to make more separation between himself and Zayn right before the pirate tightened his hold, “I honestly wonder about you and him Louis.”

His words caused Louis to cease his struggle in confusion while he now stopped to gaze at Zayn in bemusement. His blue eyes watched into Zayn’s for him to continue and the moment Zayn caught on, he released Louis and gave the prince a smile.

“Harry doesn’t exactly keep me updated on the situation between you and him as pathetic as it sounds. I know something is clearly happening, but he won’t tell me what.”

Louis’s eyebrows furrowed in further confusion but before he could speak, Liam interjected with a raised hand and his facial expression evidently more serious, “If he doesn’t tell you, don’t get it out of Louis.”

His tone was stern and the change between how playful he’d just previously been moments ago made Louis curiously turn to him in surprise.

The First Mate watched Zayn expectantly, “Going to a second source of information because your first is stubborn isn’t right, Zayn. Respect that.”

Zayn’s eyes squinted at his lover’s, “Wait. You aren’t talking about what I think you are? Oh God, Li… I wasn’t—“

“Should I leave now?” Louis unsurely questioned with a raised hand as he stood in between both pirates.

He didn’t exactly want to be in the middle of a quarrel the two would share, so asking when it’d be best to make an escape was clearly the smartest thing for him to do.

He went ignored and he felt himself tensing the moment Zayn started growing defensive against Liam that sounded to be growing more and more annoyed with each retort Zayn threw at him.

Not wanting to risk interrupting, Louis held his hands up before he slowly began to back away.

Neither of the two appeared to notice he was taking leave, and with that he moved towards the stairs to the lower the deck.

His hand moved to brush through his fringe while he stepped down the stairs, his eyes moving over the relatively cleared area.

Separation from Harry had been almost nonexistent during the rain that kept him in the room… Not that it was all Harry’s fault anyways because Louis was guilty of going out of the bedroom and playing with Dusty in the study while Harry worked on different paperwork.

It probably wouldn’t even be an overstatement if Louis said he annoyed Harry way more than otherwise when they had been together.

Even if Harry was still kind of condescending in his own blank faced way, when Louis repeatedly bothered him when he asked for silence was amusing.

The thought put a smile to his face.

One that he found quirking a bit more wide the moment he saw Harry chuckling a bit farther out at the edge of the ship alongside Niall who was also laughing, albeit more loudly.

Both were leaning against the ledge of the ship and appeared to be conversing but it was a bit of a foreign sight to see Harry so open and happy.

Curiosity got the better of him, and Louis found himself walking toward them rather quickly in an effort to join in whatever they were speaking about.

Harry composed himself and took a more firm stance upright as he held onto the wooden ledge of the ship. His mouth sucking in his bottom lip briefly before his teeth showed out in a rather smug grin toward Niall as he listened to the blonde say something.

Right as he finished, Louis was upon them with as a polite a smile as he could muster, “Hey, what are you two going on about?” He asked simply, his eyes fleeting from Niall to Harry, who watched at him with a very clear gist of mirth.

Louis returned the look with a nod, “I could hear you both laughing from way across the deck!” He brought his hand backward in a single swing in exaggeration from the direction he had just come from.

The curly haired captain shook his head as Niall let out another laugh, “We were just talking about mermaids is all.”

“How nonchalant. Do you two always speak of mermaids like that?” Louis couldn’t help but inquire as Niall latched himself onto Louis’s arm and began moving him to the edge of the ship.

Louis allowed himself to be dragged with a snicker before Niall’s hand was placed behind his neck and forced his head to look down to the foaming water below.

“What am I looking at exactly?” The royal hesitantly asked after a few seconds of silence.

The low rumble and sounds of splashing waves against the bottom of the ship were all that filled his ears as Niall’s still firm placed hand kept his head looking down at the repeatedly fluid moving sea.

All at once, Niall’s hand was removed and Louis found himself able to properly stand as Harry helped him upright, his green eyes acidly placed on Niall, who appeared entirely sheepish as his eyes cut away from Harry’s own gaze.

Sensing rising tension, Louis cleared his throat and gave Harry’s chest a quick hit for his attention that was immediately earned in the form of a raised brow.

“I still don’t get it. What about mermaids were you two talking about?”

“Oh. Not really a big deal or anything. I was just talking to Niall about a mermaid here I met a few years back.” Harry answered, his hand moving up to adjust his hat on his head.

Louis hadn’t expected him to answer like that and found himself narrowing his eyes dully, “You’ve met a mermaid before?” The royal dryly questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

Before Harry could respond, Niall cut in with a raised index finger, “Not  _a_ mermaid. He’s met _mermaids.”_ The correction on the plural was heavily stressed and Louis could only squint in confusion prior to looking at the younger male for any sign of clarification on the issue.

Harry shrugged his shoulders, “It’s true, I guess.”

“So you’ve met multiple mermaids then?”

“Yes.”

“How exactly?”

The idea was a bit farfetched and Louis couldn’t help but fold his arms over his chest with a critical brow raised upward in anticipation for the captain’s response.

Harry couldn’t possibly believe in mermaids… Sure there were stories by sailors that got passed around, but he himself should have been at sea long enough to know otherwise.

Snorting, Niall swatted Louis’s shoulder, “What a dumb question! How the hell is he supposed to answer that? He meets them when they come up from the water, obviously Louis. Duh.”

The smirk that flashed to Harry’s lips was unmistakable and Louis was immediately able to understand.

Louis instantly turned to Niall and prepared to ask if he realized that Harry was clearly lying to him, but he was unable to as Harry tilted his head outward, “Her name was Tashie.”

“What.”

It didn’t even come out like a question.

“The mermaid that he met here, her name was Tashie. Geez Louis, even I wasn’t that slow when he first told me his mermaid stories. Get with the program.”

Too enthralled by the disbelief his mind held toward Harry and his obvious lies, Louis couldn’t even retort to Niall’s disrespect. Instead he made a disapproving face with his eyes not leaving Harry’s face, “So you met a mermaid named Tashie here?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, really? Did she have curly blonde hair? Sparkling blue eyes?” He sarcastically rolled his eyes as Harry turned to look at him blankly, no traces of emotion, smug or amused on his facial features. Even so, Louis knew that was nothing to go off.

“She had wavy brown hair and brown eyes, actually.”

“Come off it, Harry.” He released an exasperated sigh before his eyes moved to Niall who was obliviously watching out over the ledge to himself, a smile plastered on his lips while he kept his eyes on the ocean.

Scowling, the brunet cleared his throat, “Do you actually believe him, Niall?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah?” Niall distractedly responded, his blue irises not distracting from the waves.

Harry gave a snort and Louis shook his head before he turned around to face Harry disapprovingly, “Why?”

“Why what, Princess?” His mouth quirked into a crooked smirk that revealed his single dimple on his cheek as Louis walked toward him with a tsk, “You know exactly what, Curly.” Louis replied shortly, stopping his steps as both his and Harry’s chests were touching and he was practically looking up into the other’s face.

The pirate let out a short chuckle, “I like it when you call me that, you know. It’s much better than Haz or Hazza.”

Not prepared for the topic change, Louis arched a brow while he kept his arms folded over his chest, “Yesterday you didn’t seem too happy about it.”

It was true in a sense considering that Harry snapped at him to not call him anything other than Harry after the new nickname had been created when Louis grew bored with Haz and the like. He wanted to be more original.

“I changed my mind. With Haz and Hazza, you’re not the one who made the nicknames but with Curly you are… So it’s… Better.” He contently informed with a smile coming to his face while he moved his eyes to the floor.

His hand reached out to grab Louis’s from his chest and the brunet allowed him to do so.

Feeling Harry attempt to intertwine their fingers, Louis gave a small laugh from the inside of his throat as he rolled his head on his neck, his eyes averted away from the younger male while he felt his face warming up quickly.

“If I made up a nickname that degraded you to that of a measly peasant would it still be better?” He curtly asked as Harry gave his hand a short squeeze with a chuckle, “You care about me enough to think something up… So I’d be a bit offended, but flattered nonetheless.”

“You’re crazy.”

“You’re the one who makes me crazy.”

The smile on Harry’s face made Louis shake his head once more with a flustered laugh, “If you say so, Curly.”

As an afterthought, he tilted his head back while moving his gaze out to the seemingly endless darkly colored ocean, “These mermaids probably make you crazier…” He muttered out lowly.

He honestly couldn’t believe Niall actually believed in mermaids but also believed them because _Harry_ of all people told him. Like, really… Niall should know better…

“Niall, I think I hear someone calling you.” Harry shortly remarked and Louis used that moment to take his hand away from the other.

He would have been lying if he said he didn’t catch Harry’s oh-so quick and barely noticeable expression change at that, but he chose to ignore it and moved to step toward the edge of the ship silently.

Niall gave the sea once last sulking gaze before he glanced over at Harry, “If you see one, you’ll call out for me, right Captain?” He questioned as he began stepping backward with Josh’s calls to him still ringing in the air.

Harry’s plain, expressionless face didn’t budge while he gave his shoulders a careless shrug, although Louis normally would have criticized Harry for being so unvocal and uncaring in his response, Niall took it with ease and he grinned at the younger male with a thumb up.

The blonde nodded, “Thanks, Haz!”

“No.”

Laughing, Niall took off jogging toward the front of the ship leaving both Louis and Harry alone.

Louis shook his head in disapproval though he said nothing more as he rested both of his arms on the ship’s ledge and lowered his head to his limbs.

“Nice day, right?” Harry lightly remarked while he took a spot beside Louis.

“I—“

“Funny how the weather went from so bleak to so bright in such a short yet long period of time, huh?”

Louis halted his words right as they prepared to leave his mouth.

Harry’s words weren’t meant to be so three-dimensional but for some odd reason it struck him in a rather peculiar way…

The relation it had to Louis’s situation was actually a bit ironic.

It  _was_  funny how things in his life had changed so quickly yet, not so quickly, if that made any sense.

His understanding of time had been long screwed up, but if he could guess he’d been on the ship for over three weeks. Which was actually a  _long_ time but at the same time, it wasn’t in comparison to six months like Niall.

How crazy was it that if his ship had left London an hour earlier or an hour later, he would have been in France, studying.

His acknowledgement to Harry’s actual existence would have been rendered to nothing but a crazed, middle aged man with nothing but a fierce bloodlust and cold heart.

Not the annoying, curly haired, surprisingly soft as a pillow  _boy_ he’d been staying with for the past few days.

The comparison didn’t match up at all sometimes.

“I would have been in France if you hadn’t… You know… Raided my ship when you did.” Louis randomly voiced.

Harry’s expression didn’t alter, instead his lips quirked downward while he kept his green eyes out to sea,

The two remained in silence and the echo of Louis’s words kind of rang into his own ear. He thought of speaking out once more to clear up that he was just talking his mind without thinking properly, but before he could, Harry was leaning his cheek into his cupped hand while he rested his elbow on the edge of the ship, right beside Louis.

“If you’re hinting that you want me to drop you off there, I’ll do it you know. Don’t need to sugarcoat anything, Princess.” He simply responded.

His tone was flat, and Louis had to arch an eyebrow as he turned his face to look at him in somewhat exasperation, “Oh, shut up. That’s not it. I was just thinking out loud because it’s been over three weeks since I’ve been here and everything in my life just kinda whirled around because of you and it’s really weird.” He rose up from his hunched position with an uneasy smile.

Louis kept his eyes on Harry, who didn’t seem to be listening as usual but he kept on even if he couldn’t find it all in his own words. He definitely didn’t want this conversation going down the drain because of a slight misunderstanding on both of their parts.

It was difficult to let it all out and explain.

He didn’t want to say he was grateful or anything like that for Harry kidnapping him, but admittedly, if he hadn’t Louis would still be blind.

Blind to the darker reaches of the Crown.

How ironic was it that a pirate of all people was showing him all of this…

“I don’t know if I should say thank you but at the same think I think I should, but this is actually really confusing.” The prince laughed lowly with a hand to the side of his head.

Now, appearing more curious to what he had to say, Harry turned over slightly to catch his eyes with Louis’s in order to watch him more skeptically, his lips were still pressed into a firm line and his green irises watched Louis voidly, as though awaiting for him to continue.

Louis shrugged his shoulders, now feeling himself grow tongue tied in the first time in what felt like forever.

He could normally word things perfectly no matter who he was speaking to, whether it be his father, tutor, or noblemen that often questioned him on higher up questions.

Now he was before Harry trying to thank him for something and he couldn’t get the words out without looking like a blundering mess.

He was pathetic.

“Okay, you know what.” Louis let out a calming breath, “Harry, Haz, Hazza, Curly, you.” He pointed at him firmly,

“Me.” Harry slowly nodded causing Louis to roll his eyes, “You, you kidnapped me.”

“I’m not so sure if I want to go over this with you—“

“No! Shut up! Let me finish, peasant!” Louis commanded in a hiss that made the curly haired male hold his hands up in mock defense while he began mumbling about being called peasant rather scornfully. Louis took no notice and instead ran a hand through his hair as he felt his cheeks growing warm for some reason unknown to himself.

“Alright, I’ll start over. So basically Harry, you pretty much stopped me from going to France to study. You’d think it’d be bad and it really is but at the same time, I just want to say, thank you.”

The instant the words escaped him, Harry’s expression faltered and for once the full degree of surprise and emotion that hit the pirate captain was entirely visible that it was nearly laughable.

He quickly caught himself and straightened up and all Louis could do was give him a crooked smile, “Yeah, crazy right? But…” He let out a chuckle as he turned back out to ocean at the edge of the ship where he hunched himself over and allowed his eyes to get lost in the splashing waves, “You opened my eyes, Curly.”

“I didn’t know so many people out there were suffering like that… I didn’t know people like you suffered the way you did… My father probably is a shit ruler and I’m sorry on his behalf even if I know it won’t do much, but if it weren’t for you, right now I’d just be another product of that… Another terrible King just waiting to rise.” He confessed out lightly in the way all the words were processing throughout his mind.

He probably sounded unbelievably cliché, but he didn’t care and he couldn’t help the smile that considerably grew on his face, “You’re not exactly a saint but you yourself have been able to see the fault in your actions so I have to give you that. Harry, you saved me and I’m grateful to you for that.” Louis turned to lock eyes with him.

A rather pleasant feeling ran over his stomach the moment that Harry’s cheeks considerably began to flush a light pink color and the male slowly returned the smile, his teeth showing and all.

Louis couldn’t help but chuckle lowly, “You’re blushing.” He acknowledged with a finger point in Harry’s direction.

Harry immediately snorted while he turned his face away, “No, I’m not.”

“How cute of you.” Louis teased while he began straightening himself up, he didn’t want to stick around too long and because he knew with his luck the situation could take a drastic turn down at any rate.

As he did so, Harry reached out and grabbed his arm with a smirk to his face,

“You’re stealing my phrases now?”

Snorting, Louis flipped his hair, “Oh, please. I made your phrase better. You should be thanking me.”

Harry leaned down closer to his face and Louis found himself stiffening in surprise at their close proximity, “I have different ways of thanking people, you know.” His voice grew considerably lower and Louis found a tingly sensation enter his body the moment Harry backward and allowed his confident smile to be put into view.

The words of self control flashed past his brain and instinctively he flinched back from Harry’s hold, a move that didn’t go unnoticed by the curly haired pirate that looked visibly bothered by that.

“Yeah, I’m going now.” Louis muttered out as he tried to get his arm back from the brunet that remained firm, his eyebrows creasing into that of confusion as the prince repeatedly tugged.

“Wait, why?” Harry mumbled, his voice hardly audible though Louis had still been able to hear him.

Offering him a reassuring smile to make sure he knew it wasn’t his fault, Louis sighed, “I’m just going. Let go now.” He commanded though he went ignored again.

“What I said got you mad? You know I was kidding, right?”

“Can you stop!?” Louis growled now and instantly, Harry’s hand lowered from his arm as the prince began to fix his sleeve with a bit of annoyance in his tone, “I’m not going off the ship or anything! I’m just going to talk to Eleanor—“

“Why the hell are you so fucking obsessed Eleanor?” Harry questioned in such a hostile way, that Louis couldn’t help but narrow his eyes, “I’m obsessed with my best friend now?” He repeatedly out with a rather critical looked pointed Harry’s way.

Harry quickly moved his glower from Louis’s own eyes to the ground stubbornly, “You can talk to me just the same way you talk to her, can’t you? You always blow me off and avoid me just to talk to her. I don’t even know if she can even talk, it’s like I’ve never even heard her voice before, you know.”

“What the hell are you even talking about?” The fact that this was coming out of nowhere was a bit surprising, but it didn’t stop Louis from growing irritated with him.

He knew Harry wasn’t fond of Eleanor but did he really have to be so rude out of the blue.

Harry scowled and said nothing, prompting Louis to roll his eyes, “You’re a child.”

“I’m not a child for wanting you to stay out here with me so you can see us approach the island, but whatever I don’t care. Go see Eleanor if you want.” Harry waved off stonily before he turned back around to face the sea.

Curiosity caught the better of him, and Louis found himself watching the back of Harry’s head cautiously, “Island? What island?”

“Aha. Go ask Eleanor. I’m sure she’ll tell you. Hell, she’ll probably tell you what we’re looking for there too. But I wouldn’t know. I’m just Harry, no big deal, Princess.”

“Your sarcasm makes me want to hurt people. Oh my God. Overdramatic, much?” Louis snorted as he made his way beside the pirate captain once more, except this time the space between them was less.

Comfortingly, he extended his hand out beside Harry’s to grab hold. Harry’s larger hand noticeably tensed from the touch but almost instantly relaxed into Louis’s hold.

“Kissing up to me for information now? What’s next? You’ll show me your naked body?” Harry scoffed right before Louis felt he couldn’t have rolled his eyes harder, “But seriously, what island were you talking about?” He gazed out to the horizon for any sign of land but when his results came up short he had to glance over at Harry who now laid his head to rest on Louis’s shoulder leisurely.

Right after he asked this, Harry let out a throaty laugh, almost dark chuckle, “I guess you’ll have to stay out here with me to find out then, Princess.”

He just got set up.

“You just set me up—“

“On another note, France seems like a nice place to study… I’ve been there before a few times. But it was strictly business.”

His words made Louis’s frustration soften instantly at the thought and he released a breath, “Yeah. I’ve been there before once… It was nice, I guess. One day, I don’t know… If we ever get the chance, maybe I could show you around as more of a holiday?” He unsurely inquired with a look pointed off in Harry’s way.

The pirate captain’s eyes squinted in confusion, “… Are you asking me out?”

At that moment the full degree of his words came back to him and Louis could have hit his forehead at his stupidity. He could feel the embarrassment radiating off of him, but at this point he didn’t care. Exhaling dramatically he slide a hand over his face, careful not to disturb Harry’s spot on his shoulder, “Yes, Harry. I’m asking you out on a date to France some time. Please say yes?”

Harry laughed lowly, “Okay, but you have to promise not to back out, alright?”

Snorting, Louis shook his head, “Alright, I promise.”

“I expect dinner.”

“You’re such a Princess. Of course, Curly, I’ll pay for your dinner and everything.” Louis teased with a poke to Harry’s dimpled cheek as Harry began blushing once more.

It was an odd change, but also a good one if Louis had any word to say.

It really was funny how quickly things could change…

**Chapter 30.**

The Sun was beginning to shine down stronger than before as it continuously crept its way to the center of the sky.

Louis couldn’t help but take notice to the weather’s growing heat with each rock to the smaller, dingy rowboat he found himself situated within. He supposed it could be classified as a lifeboat, one of the few that hung for use on the bigger ship that they were now steadily distancing themselves from toward the land mass up ahead.

It was an island, it’d been clear to see that when they’d been approaching it from the ship and Harry had been incredibly closed up about what they were going to do there.

Just from looking at it, even in the distance it was clear that the island was devoid of any human life or settlement… That was a fact that made Louis a bit wary of the crew’s intentions.

They’d stopped the ship a bit out from shore, which Louis found interesting as he watched Harry begin to instruct the crew on their duties, with who would be staying onboard and who’d accompany him to the island.

When it came down to it, only about seventeen of them were chosen, and Louis had been sure to be one of them in spite of Harry’s clear disapproval.

His eyes fleeted out to his left to where he saw the other two boats trailing not too far away from the one he, Harry, Zayn, Niall, and Liam were situated in that was now sliding up on the sand of the beach from the push the small waves gave them.

Niall and Liam placed down their wooden oars and both immediately took up Zayn’s offering hands that had been placed in their direction to help them up from their seats.

Louis watched with dull eyes as the three all seemed to simultaneously exit the raft with their legs working at the same pace.

He had grown used to how the trio always moved all at once but it was strange to think they hadn’t always been like that.

It seemed like that’s how it had always been but if Liam and Zayn’s story of how before Niall came onboard was anything to go by, Liam and Zayn’s feeling for one another hadn’t always been apparent and they were only friends.

“Was watching Zayn and Liam interact as friends weird for you, Harry?” He mindlessly inquired while he placed his legs outside of the boat, his boots slid into the damp sand in a rather slick way and he turned his head over to the pirate Captain that didn’t appear to be listening.

Louis waited a moment, his blue eyes watching Harry as the younger male silently studied a thin sheet of paper within his grasp from the other side of the wooden boat.

A cold wave of water washed over his foot and Louis scowled when it appeared he was being ignored, “I asked you a question.” He curtly informed, though as before Harry took no notice to him.

“Are you still upset because I didn’t listen to you before?” Louis inquired as his arms folded over his chest, the thought was a bit amusing and he began to walk around the boat to approach the still standing pirate, “I said I was sorry for jumping, didn’t I?”

His tone was bordering sarcastic and he knew the obviously empty apology for blatantly going against Harry’s commands for him to stay onboard by recklessly jumping over the edge of the ship to land in their boat wasn’t enough to sedate Harry’s annoyance.

Honestly, he figured Harry would have been happier having him around.

When Harry still wouldn’t answer, Louis hummed tunelessly, “Do you want me to ask again because I wasn’t loud enough? I will if you want.” He tried to remain as innocent as possible with his words and even then when Harry wouldn’t put up his head or flicker his eyes to give him some degree of acknowledgement, Louis sighed, “Harry, I asked you a question.” He repeated boredly,

“I chose not to answer it.” Harry snapped back easily and quickly in a tone Louis hadn’t expected to be answered in.

The royal’s eyebrows furrowed right after he overcame his sudden surprise at Harry’s negligence to him in general.

“Wow, check your attitude, Curly. I wasn’t serious.” Louis immediately retorted with a slightly annoyed frown to his lips while he evaluated the curly haired brunet that now took his time to move his eyes from his paper to give Louis a blank stare.

Their eyes met and Louis made sure his eyes weren’t pushed into too much of a full out glare, but just enough to show he was irritated. “Are you alright? Did you eat enough breakfast? Did Dusty tell you she didn’t love you anymore?”

Unlike what he imagined, Harry’s lips didn’t quirk into a smirk and he didn’t look at all prepared to engage in a short battle of wit with the royal as he usually did.

His face remained serious and Louis found himself growing a bit confused by it.

Finally breaking eye contact, Harry snorted, his head turning away from Louis in a somewhat pretentious way, “Just because I let you come here doesn’t mean I’ll let you make a fool out of me here, Princess. You seem to constantly forget that not only am I a pirate, I am also a pirate  _Captain_. I warned you already to stay on abroad, but you didn’t listen. Well, as long as you’re here you’re a part of  _my_ crew and as such you need to listen to  _my_ orders, regardless if you like them or not.”

“You’re joking, right?” Louis couldn’t catch himself before he immediately countered the younger male’s words as Harry began folding up the sheet of paper with his fingers smoothly.

“Does it look like I’m joking?” Harry rhetorically asked with an arched brow, but regardless, the serious expression on his face still wasn’t enough to fully move Louis on it.

Harry was normally serious anyways, but he was never really serious with him… Not recently anyways.

Adjusting his hat, Harry gave him a rather critical scan with his eyes briefly, “I want something from here and joking around won’t get me what I want. You’re in league with pirates now, Princess… Not just any pirates,  _my_ pirates. Get it together.”  Without another word, Harry turned and began to approach the larger group of pirates that were pulling up their boats on the beach to avoid the waves.

Louis would be lying if he said that he’d been prepared for Harry’s sudden change of attitude.

“Get it together? Are you fucking serious, Curly?” The prince questioned over to Harry’s retreating back, his taunt filled with nothing but ridicule.

The way he phrased his words made it seem as though Harry didn’t take him seriously, something Louis thought he managed to jump over after their sword duel.

Harry ignored him once more and Louis released a frustrated groan after he started following after him.

His eyes made contact with Danielle and Zayn who both seemed to be in a bit of a quarrel from within the small crowd of pirates, and then to Eleanor, who stood off to the side beside Liam quietly with her head tilted downwards in the shy stance she held whenever she wanted to remain unnoticed.

When Harry came to a stop, Louis carelessly and deliberately bumped pass the pirate’s shoulder, not sparing him a glance backward as he entered the crowd next to Niall with a small smirk on his face.

Niall, unlike Louis thought didn’t even look like he was attempting to hide a smile from Louis’s stunt, and when Louis turned at attention to face Harry as the rest of pirate crew, he tried not to show any change in his expression when his eyes locked with the intense glower Harry held over at him.

Hiding all forms of intimidation, Louis shrugged his shoulders uncaringly.

At that moment, it seemed as though all the talking and shouts was silenced and everyone’s heads were pointed at Harry who stood before them all.

Harry’s face flushed out all traces of annoyance that he held from Louis’s push and now it appeared as though he was working with a blank slate of emotions now.

His eyes went over the group once and it was almost as though Louis could hear the tension leaking in the air.

Everyone was getting serious apparently…

He peeked over at both Liam and Niall, the two watched ahead with neutral eyes and facial features, which he supposed should have been typical and when he saw the same thing on Zayn’s face, he knew for a fact that this whole thing wasn’t a ‘joke’ like Harry had so graciously put it before.

To be honest, Louis wasn’t even so sure what they were doing here anyways…

“Alright, so as you all know, the only reason we’re actually wasting our time on this island is to find something.” Harry clearly spoke, his arms folding over his chest and the same blank expression that Louis admittedly had grown to associating with Captain Styles, the part of Harry that seemed to be divided from how he normally behaved around Louis.

It appeared as though that this was his time to appear in the face of leading his own crew.

Louis found himself biting in his bottom lip while his eyes fleeted over to Harry’s form to watch the Captain as he glared over at his crew sternly, “This something is called Stuart’s Coffer and according to my sources, it’s somewhere on this island,” He paused briefly, his jaw seemingly slackening a bit as he tilted his head toward Louis’s direction for a second right before his green eyes shot in his direction.

The royal felt himself freeze at the sudden stare he was encased in, but he had no time to comment on it as Harry continued, “Thanks to Liam for advising me on going to a source directly, or else I’m pretty sure we would have still been wandering aimlessly.”

Beside him, Liam gave a nod a short, ‘No problem,’ before Harry went into his back pocket, his handing coming out with a few sheets of folded, wrinkled papers.

He unfolded them and allowed his eyes to scan the first one’s contents prior to raising his gaze up and watching at the crew passively, “I suppose we should get this over with. The sooner we get the treasure, the sooner we leave. The standard rules for a hunt apply so don’t act out unless you want to be shot.”

The moment his sentence came to a halt, like a signal, all the crew Louis stood in line with turned to the right and began to walk off the beach and toward the darkened vegetation up ahead.

Louis hesitated, his heel digging into the sand as he stopped his advance forward as his head turned to Harry’s direction where the Captain appeared to be fully pressing out his papers open.

Running a hand through his hair, Louis decided to wait although the rest of the crew were just about finished off of the beaches sand and entering the jungle.

“You’re not going to say thank you to me for waiting on you?” Louis asked dryly as Harry started walking up ahead.

The royal’s words didn’t cause him to slow down or stop by any means, but he glanced over at him simply, “Do you want me to?” He bluntly questioned, his tongue briefly coming out to lick his lips.

Louis moved his eyes from the younger male’s mouth, “It’d be rude of you not to. Pirate or not.” The royal truthfully retorted with a nod as both he and Harry entered the already cleared pathway into the forest.

He watched Harry to gauge his reaction to his words, and when he saw the small smirk perk at the side of his mouth, Louis felt like he just made the ultimate accomplishment.

“Are you having mood swings, Harry?” He inquired, admittedly half serious.

Harry shook his head before ducking it beneath a low hanging tree branch, “You make being a leader difficult, you know.”

Snorting, Louis crossed his arms over his chest and glanced over his shoulder to look at Harry curiously, “Because captive princes always lead to the downfall of fearless, deadly, infamous pirates’ leadership skills, right?” He mockingly questioned with a smirk rising to his face.

Harry’s eyes didn’t meet his and the curly haired brunet simply bypassed Louis on the path way, “Only in my life story, honestly.”

“Just because I’m a little silly doesn’t mean I should be really affecting the way you present yourself in front of your men. Get real, Harry.”

With his words, he found himself hopping over a log. His hands scratched at the wood when he threw his body over, and he winced before blowing at his palm soothingly. His sped his steps up to catch back to the back of Harry’s steps as it seemed the pathway they walked on grew narrower.

His eyes caught sight of a rather large spider web just a few feet away from where he stood and he stuck his hands into pockets leisurely, “Are you afraid of spiders, Haz?” He curiously questioned.

The question was random, but he knew for a fact Harry wouldn’t exactly care.

“I used to be when I was younger.”

“Oh… What made you stop?” Louis asked right as he heard Danielle begin screaming at someone not too far up ahead.

Harry paused for what appeared to be a second, though it was still long enough for Louis to take notice and the moment he did, he raised a slightly confused brow upward.

“My stay on Lionheart…” He quietly answered,

Instantly, Louis continued, “How? What’d you do? Magically wake up one day and decide you weren’t afraid anymore?”

The prospect wasn’t too crazy considering how he  _was_ Captain Styles, the most feared pirate on the seven seas who happened to have soft spot for a ginger kitten in his office.

Harry shook his head, “No. Captain Cowell has his own means to deteriorate petty weaknesses like that.”

The opened end the answer held made Louis a bit curious and he leaned forward, prepared to ask what exactly did the Captain do to him, but he couldn’t as Harry was glancing over his shoulder with eager eyes, “Why do you ask? Are you afraid of spiders?”

Shrugging, Louis glanced off deeper into the various trees around them, “I just wanted to know… No, I’m not,” He gave a short laugh; “My sisters were though. I remember once I found a small one out in the gardens and I chased Lottie around with it for a bit.”

“You’re cruel.” Harry stated, glimpsed back at Louis with narrowed eyes, “Gemma did the same thing to me. Do you understand how scary that is?”

“You let your sister chase you around with a spider, Curly? Wow, how many people know this?” Louis grinned at him in amusement as he passed the still standing pirate captain on the pathway.

Up ahead, he could Liam and Zayn only several feet away from where he stood.

“Two and I expect it to stay that way.” Harry countered right as Louis gave a snicker before he quietly reassured him it would.

It wasn’t like he’d have much of anyone else to tell it to.

He liked it when Harry told him about his family in a positive way. Whenever Harry told him stuff about them in a rather melancholic fashion, it made Louis feel uneasy and anxious, almost as though he could feel Harry’s on feelings on the subject of his mother and sister’s deaths but when it was trivial things, it made him smile.

The fact Harry was able to disclose personal information like this that he never had with anyone else before, not even Liam or Zayn, made him feel special and he liked it a lot.

“If we’re doing questions again, I’m just making sure… Charlotte is the oldest of your sisters, right? Lottie?” Harry continued from behind.

Louis nodded his head, not attempting to take any notice to the lack of respect Harry always had when he addressed his family.

“Yeah, then it’s Fizzy.”

“Her real name is Felicite?”

“Correct. Wow, Harry you’re good at remembering these things.” Louis complimented, though he only received a scoff in response, “Your family wants to kill me how can I not remember? I’m pretty sure I know the names of more monarchs in Europe than you do.”

His confidence earned an eye roll from the royal, “Every single one in the Holy Roman Empire?”

“Name a state and I’ll have a go.” Harry responded with a smirk on his lips as he fell into step beside Louis. Both of their shoulders were rubbed against one another at that instant and Louis snorted, “How much  _are_ you wanted in Europe?”

“To the point where if I actually had sex with them all, I’d probably die of exhaustion.”

“You’re an epitome of comedy, Harry. You should write plays for a living if your pirating career reaches a dead end, you know.” Louis sneered out to the brunet that gave a short chuckle,

Just watching him laugh reminded Louis how it was so hard to align Harry as the same person at his various times as pirate Captain.

Louis actually wondered if the times he was onboard had actually been the most Harry had laughed and smiled in a while…

“You have a tendency to laugh and smile whenever I show distaste to your jokes,” Louis voiced out his small observation, causing Harry to look at him shortly, “Because your reactions are cute, Princess.”

Scoffing, the prince scowled a bit, “I’m sure you don’t laugh at any one else’s cute reactions to your jokes.”

“What—“

“Captain Styles, you’re just soft on me. Admit it.” Louis sang out lightly, his hand brushed throughout his fringe as he ducked beneath a low hanging tree branch and waved away a bunch of leaves that remained within his way.

He found his steps coming to a stop as he watched not too far up; the crew was at a standstill in front of the rather small breach to what Louis could only assume to be a cave.

Plants and vines aligned the walls and only a bit of visible darkened stone shown through.

The inside of the cave was entirely pitch black and even if Louis squinted, nothing from inside would be viewable.

“So this treasure chest or whatever, is inside of this cave or…?” Louis immediately found himself asking as he walked up toward Niall and Zayn.

Zayn moved his head from on top of Niall’s shoulder only to shrug his own, “Don’t know honestly. I’m letting Liam and Harry handle this on their own. Also it’s a coffer.”

“A coffer is a chest.” Louis retorted with warning eyes that Zayn instantly held his hands up in defense, “My bad, Your Highness.”

At that instant, Niall released a bout of laughter, “Yeah, if I’m right coffers and chests are the same thing?” He eyed Louis with a smile in anticipation for the answer and Louis nodded proud to know the information, “Basically.”

With a snort, Zayn rolled his eyes shortly causing Louis to snicker lightly, “But this thing you’re all going after… It’s called Stuart’s Coffer, right?” The Stuart name was entirely familiar to his memory.

It was an old dynasty that had only lasted about two generations as the monarchy in Scotland a few centuries back. They had all died out before a new dynasty ascended.

Niall rolled his neck back, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s the name.”

“Yes, it is. Harry’s wanted it for months now.” Following his words, Zayn watched over at Harry as he spoke to Liam closely, the serious expression flickered back to Harry’s face like the spark of a flame.

Louis found his own eyes trailing to them and he spoke without tearing his eyes, “What’s so special about it?”

He couldn’t recall anything about a Coffer or some sort of legend about the Stuarts.

If he was right, the sole Queen had been accused of murdering her father for the throne despite only being like 18… She herself had been murdered not too long after she took the throne and she’d not had any surviving children to follow after her.

Louis was also pretty sure that the Stuart bloodline could be traced back to his Step-fathers… Going as far to Lottie, Fizzy, Daisy and Phoebe.

No mentions of a Coffer or anything though.

“No clue.” Niall responded,

Zayn said nothing, his eyes still intent on Harry and Liam as the two now began to lead the others into the cave with their own lanterns lit up and lifted upward.

“Well, time to go then I guess.” The blonde muttered as he reached for Zayn’s hand to pull him along and forward.

The prince moved quickly to catch up to the both of them as they all made it into the humid, slightly rank smelling cavern.

He could see both Eleanor and Danielle up ahead with one another attached with one arm intertwined with each other. Danielle was holding the supply bag that Eleanor had once been burdened with carrying and the two appeared to be talking with another member of the crew sociably.

Liam’s pace with his raised lantern took him to the front of the group, leading the way down the tunnel while Harry fell to the back, something Louis found considerably odd since Harry was the captain.

He turned to Niall with a questioning look on his features as the two made their way not too far from the back of the group.

“What sense does it make that Harry’s in the back and Liam’s in front…? Isn’t Harry the ‘leader’ of this treasure hunt?”

 The words treasure hunt made the whole thing sound a bit childish. It fell into place with the benevolent pirates that were in children stories, not the true nature of pirates that raided merchant ships as they did in reality.

“I’m pretty sure it’s in case of an attack or something.” Niall briefly explained, his eyes turning back to glance at Harry before he brought his gaze back to Louis, “Liam’s in front as the first head on attack if anything, then it falls back to Zayn, that’s why he’s in the middle, and then Harry’s in the back in case everything all goes wrong? I mean, typically anyone would assume Liam was the Captain and aim to take him down first, ya know?”

The Irishman’s explanation made some degree of sense and Louis shrugged in understanding, “Interesting, but not really effective if anyone decided to attack from behind?”

With a nod, Niall gave a short laugh, “This place is deserted though, so I doubt that’s even something to think about.”

Grinning back, Louis shook his head, “You’re a pirate and you’re so lax about everything. Good on you, Niall.”

“Sarcasm?”

“No, you’re actually the coolest pirate I’ve ever met. Trust me. I’ve never met a pirate who has such relaxed views on danger.”

Niall lightly punched him in the shoulder, “We’re the first set of pirates you’ve met!”

“Oh, right. I forgot.” Louis snickered, “But honestly, I’m pretty sure I’ll ever meet a pirate quite like you.”

Humming tunelessly, Niall’s eyes trailed over to the front of lantern absentmindedly, “They’ll never be another Niall Horan, a noble turned pirate so I’m about one hundred percent sure that you are correct, Your Highness.”

A noble turned pirate.

The prospect was still a bit unbelievable, but it was still true.

Niall gave up everything just to be with Zayn and Liam, their whole story sounding unreal considering the extent to Zayn and Liam’s relationship before they even met Niall.

How do you go from riches to rags so quickly…?

Niall told him one day he’d understand, and though Louis could somewhat grasp it now; it still wasn’t exactly fully comprehendible.

Not too longer had he drifted into his sea of thoughts did his steps forcibly come to a stop as his eyes caught sight of everyone ahead of him stopping their walk.

His eyebrows furrowed and he glanced up to where Liam stood and it now came to his attention that the tunnel they were trekking down had two separate ways to continue going down further.

Low mutters instantly broke out amongst the group of them before he heard Liam clear his throat loudly above everyone else.

“Well, this is where the map says to go, but the cave is split so…” Liam trailed off uneasily.

Louis couldn’t help but observe how everyone’s heads turned in unison, allowing all their eyes to rest on Harry, not another sound coming from anyone as they simply watched him for whatever he had to say.

It took a few seconds before Harry pushed ahead to the front to observe the two divisions in the cave.

Louis curiously gazed at the pirate Captain as he stood before both opened ways before he picked up two rocks from the ground.

Everyone remained soundless, watching Harry as he swung his hand back before tossing the first stone down the tunnel on the left. It took a couple seconds before the impact was heard along with the hollow echo.

Harry then took the time to repeat the action with the second stone, with the tunnel on the right.

The moment right after, the pirate turned to watch his crew passively, “The one on the left is narrower. Majority goes through the right, minority take the left. I’ll be going to the one on the left. Everyone else decide where you want to go now.”

Louis couldn’t help but cringe his face in confusion as everyone began to scramble to a side to walk down.

“I’m going with Captain!” Niall announced loudly and Harry instantly sighed right as Zayn and Liam both edged toward the left side, neither looking ready to separate from one another and Niall, their eyes saying their feelings exactly.

Eleanor gave Louis a fleeting look as her arm was held and she was pulled over to the right by Danielle gently.

Giving her an understanding smile, Louis nodded off at her before he turned to look at Harry expectantly and shrugged his shoulders, signaling he was going with them regardless.

Zayn gave him a pat on the back right after Harry finished giving his own lantern to Danielle and returning to their cave entrance after he explained what they were to do after they reached the end of their own pathway.

Louis grinned as he looked over at Zayn, “Is it really such a good idea to have the Captain, First Mate, _and_ you on one side and the rest of the crew on the other?”

“I’m flattered that you think so highly of me that I have my own title, Princess.” Zayn smirked, “But it’s just a walk through a cave, Harry knows what he’s doing. Not like the others can’t hold their own anyways. Even Eleanor could probably take down someone twice her size! Have you seen her fight? Pft, the girl’s like a hidden beast!”

“She can’t even talk without crying how can she even pick up a weapon much less hurt someone with it?” Harry interrupted as he fell into step beside Louis with a scowl on his lips.

Zayn’s amused expression visibly faltered and he held his hands up in defense, “My bad, Hazza. But you never know, I’ve talked to her plenty of times without the tears and the girl hangs with Danielle, I’m pretty sure some of that fierceness rubbed off.”

“No.”

“Or not.” Zayn ended, “Anyways, I think Liam and Niall are calling me, goodbye.” Zayn remarked with a short wave as he quickened his pace to catch up with both Liam and Niall as both pirates led the way up ahead with the lantern.

The fact he was speaking so poorly of Eleanor made him cringe, but Louis knew it was futile to even try to get Harry to stop, so instead he settled on folding his arms across his chest and looking at the pirate curiously, “How exactly did you know which way was narrower from throwing a rock?”

Unless of course, Harry had been guessing?

Harry scoffed, “Listening to the pitches of the echoes, Princess. Honestly, I figured you’d at least know that with your ‘formal and prestigious’ education, pft.”

“Oh, shut up!” With a huff, Louis turned to shove the male in the shoulder.

Clearly not seeing the assault coming, Harry stumbled to the side, his hand immediately shooting out to grab Louis’s arms to stop himself from tripping.

Louis grunted as he was pulled closer to the curly haired male and the space between them was nonexistent.

Harry’s hat slide off his head and landed partially on his own, and Louis glanced up at it, in the process gaining eye contact with Harry.

In the back of his mind, he heard Liam saying they needed to wait on the two of them to Niall and Zayn, but Louis’s full attention rested on Harry, who watched down at him with a slow growing smile, one that Louis couldn’t help but find himself matching.

“You have no idea how much you mean to me.” Harry lowly breathed out, though Louis was close enough to catch every word.

He felt his face flush slightly as his eyes fleeted away quickly, “I probably don’t…” He reluctantly responded as he stood up more straight, though Harry’s grasp on his arm remained.

“But, you  _do_ have an idea, right?” The brunet asked seriously, “You do, right?”

Louis could feel the sudden mood change in the conversation and he knew it was time to pull out before it got too deep.

Shaking his head, he tried to get his arm away from Harry’s hand,

“If you really want to let your feelings out, actions speak louder than words, alright? Especially when you haven’t even been saying words… All you’ve been doing is implying stuff while expecting me to get it automatically. I’m not a mind reader, Harry.”

Harry blinked his eyes, his grip on the prince loosening ever so slightly, “You can’t be that oblivious, Princess.”

He released what sounded like an exasperated groan from the pit of his throat before he bit his bottom lip, his eyes flickering downward silently for a brief moment.

Louis ripped his arm away now, a scowl on his lips, “Sort it out yourself, whether I’m oblivious or not shouldn’t mean anything because if you truly wanted me to know, you’d say it directly or not at all.” Sighing, he started his walk once more,

“I love you.”

Louis’s feet stopped mid-step and he found himself nearly tripping over a large sized stone in his way. He caught him and quickly ran a hand through his brown hair, his mind instantly rejecting the words that seemed to cause time to freeze ever so slightly.

The volume of his heart beating within his chest fluidly filled his hearing sense and Louis willed himself to turn around and face the male behind him, but his body refused, a queasy feeling erupting in the pit of his stomach,

Instantly, he tried to steady himself and keep his front strong as he replied, “You don’t—“

“Don’t you dare fucking tell me what I do and do not feel. I won’t let you do that to me, Louis.”

A lump began to form within his throat, and Louis hadn’t come to notice that he wasn’t breathing properly until he was forced to swallow down the uncomfortable bump.

He sighed, the noise audibly shaky much to his inner annoyance,  before he finally found the motivation to turn back around, his body immediately face to face with Harry’s own suddenly looming form.

The royal’s lips frowned the moment he caught sight of Harry’s lit up green eyes that watched him in anticipation, “Harry,” He started out and right after he came to realize he hadn’t anything else to say…

What was he supposed to say…?

“Did you not hear me? I said, I love you. You’re amazing, Louis. You’re more than amazing, for fuck’s sake, I can’t even begin to truly describe what you are aside from perfection to me, okay? I told you before that I’ve liked you for a long time and I still  _do_. I  _never_ stopped loving you and I know no matter how hard I try, I  _won’t_ be able to stop either.” Harry announced, his eyes staring into Louis’s own and effortlessly allowing the sinking feeling in the pit of the royal’s stomach to increase severely.

The words left an impact on Louis’s psych and it took him a bit of a moment to fully process everything enough for him to clear his throat,

Louis released a heavy breath, his eyes flickering to meet with Harry’s calmly, “I hear you, Harry. I really do, but the thing is I don’t know if what you’re saying is true. How can you say that about me when you hardly even know me?” Louis weakly responded, his stomach still churned.

Harry only knew him for about a month.

Was the even enough time to truly ‘love’ somebody?

Fairytales always had the princess and the prince fall in love after one kiss, but that was all in books. Real life was much different.

“I know the you that you’re too afraid to show everyone else.” Harry defended with furrowed eyebrows, “That’s a fact you can’t deny.”

The prince’s mouth dropped slightly and he was instantly reminded of all the talks he and Harry had where he confessed in just about every little detail and thoughts of his life back in London had been.

Likewise, it was pretty much the same in the way Harry occasionally opened up his own self to Louis in those small instances of weakness and vulnerability he shared.

He was reminded of the fact he was still standing before the male in question and could only bite his bottom lip silently.

What was he supposed to say?

He’d never once been in this kind of situation before.

He knew girls around the kingdom all had crushes on him and the like, but Harry was coming at him so seriously and the fact Louis knew that he just may be able to reciprocate the feelings back made him unsure of what to respond back with.

“Nothing then? You have nothing to say?”

Harry let out a dry, humorless laugh as he took a step back, “Alright. I figured.”

The expression was a clear lie, the fake smile that the curly haired male wore on his face made Louis scowl heavily as he reached out to the younger’s shoulder, “Harry, it’s not—“

Harry moved away from his touch, his eyes flashing up to meet his blankly, his smile not meeting his eyes, “Don’t worry, Princess. I promise after I get the Coffer, I’ll set you back to England.” His tone was flat and empty to the point that Louis felt like he wasn’t even talking to Harry at all.

“Wait,  _what_?” Louis questioned incredulously, he wasn’t sure if he heard right or not.

Nodding, Harry said no more before he started walking past Louis and after the distanced glowing light that was near the sole exit to the cave.

“What do you mean? You’re taking me back to London?” The prince asked after he sped to catch up to the swift moving pirate.

“I’m not good enough for you to stay and I don’t want you here if you’ll just be homesick.” He truthfully replied and Louis was immediately taken back.

Harry was actually being considerate of his feelings… Just as he had when he actually took off the collar from his neck before.

Was he even dealing with the same person he had been about a month ago?

It then fully came to snap in his mind that the same Harry Styles that had once visited him for the first time back in his prison room, the same Harry Styles that ruthlessly killed a man in front of his eyes, and the same Harry Styles that cruelly left him inside of a room for four days for attempting to get away from him.

Harry changed right before his eyes and hadn’t actually taken the time to stop and think about it as it happened.

Was it even possible for a person to change so quickly like that?

He stopped himself from continuing to question it because it was too  _obvious_ , what, or  _who_ had been the reason for Harry’s all too fast change.

The fact he’d been the cause for Harry to turn about his personality and ways was a little scary, but it reinforced the suggestion that Harry’s feelings for him were genuine to the point Louis could feel his stomachache transitioning to a more painful heartache.

Harry once only had three people in his life that he loved so dearly.

Two were gone and only one remained.

The thought that the single one remaining wanted nothing to do with him and couldn’t even gather a proper response to his verbal confession must have been killing him inside.

Louis felt his heartache increase that much more.

“Harry,” His words came out cracked and lower than he anticipated.

He had no idea if he was heard or not, but Harry continued walking further to the exit of the cave, his back seemingly growing farther and farther away from Louis’s own reach.

Just putting himself in Harry’s own spot…

He knew he needed to put down exactly what needed to say to him to clear up everything.

“Harry.” Louis called more strongly this time, his steps quickening right as Harry exited the cave and the royal felt a bit of impatience enter his being at the fact he was more than likely just being blatantly ignored,

Knowing a full out shout couldn’t possibly just go neglected, Louis opened his mouth to just scream out the curly haired captain’s name once more,

The moment his mouth opened, the sound of a gunshot rang throughout his ears and if the sound wasn’t enough to completely catch Louis off guard, the fact that Harry’s body was falling to the ground silently, was.

Another gunshot pierced the air and Louis found his whole being freezing in horror the instant Harry’s form hit the dirt and stone covered earth.

He couldn’t even let a word out; his legs were just running straight to Harry’s fallen body that lay right at the entrance of the cave.

The natural light from the Sun that beamed down to the entrance and to the vast amount of trees ahead caused Louis’s eye to water from the sharp brightness change that his eyes underwent the moment he stepped out from the darkness.

He was instantly kneeling at Harry’s side, the mortification and shock his body felt still felt threatening to rattle his nerves to the point of shaking, though he forced his mind to stay rational even in the face of this unexpected situation.

His hand touched the younger male’s back frantically, “Harry, are you okay!? Harry, come on.” Louis’s words left his gritted teeth forcefully as his hands moved to touch the pirate captain’s now heavy head.

There was no way Harry wasn’t okay though. He had to be.

The sound of a gun being clicked flashed over his hearing and Louis’s ears immediately perked up as his head slowly turned to look up in the direction the noise came from.

Louis found his eyes meeting with another man’s who now began walking out of the foliage, his gun held out offensively, almost daring him to be resistant.

“Prince Louis Tomlinson of the United Kingdom, nice to see you.”

**Chapter 31.**

Louis found his breathing in the pit of his throat suddenly becoming stuck. His limbs contrasted vastly with his heart that felt to be moving at a lightning swift pace that willed for his chilled blood to begin moving once more, but it was unable to.

Harry had just been shot.

The words swarmed his psych repeatedly like a similar bullet to his own brain and each time the short sentence hit him, the power seemingly increased a significant amount that made an immediate and evitable headache begin to rise.

Louis could feel body begging to take his sight off from the armed male ahead and to turn his attention back to the person by his frozen hands that he knew needed his concentrate more than anything at the moment.

Even as his eyes rested in contact with brown eyed man, his mind continuously replayed the sight of Harry’s body silently descending to the ground after the shot of the gun.

It made the prince’s stomach clench as though he’d just been punched.

“Why did you shoot him!?”

His voice came out more forcefully than he originally anticipated and unlike how his body felt to still be stuck in shock, his voice managed to come off as strong, a fact he was silently grateful for.

Dark hair and strongly built, the man who stood before with his gun still steadily pointed looked to be several years older than Louis himself, his appearance was clean but at the same time it didn’t set off safe feelings as a possible ally, something that immediately brought qualms into Louis’s being once more.

“He was too dangerous to leave alive, obviously.” The answer was spilled from a pair of lips that were curled into a rather simple smile, “I don’t know if you’re aware or not Your Highness, but he’s supposedly one of the best pirates out there.”

“I know who he fucking is, alright!?” Louis shouted back almost instantly, his eyes flashed dangerously and now his emotions were beginning to bounce. Harry needed medical attention if he wasn’t already dead and now this man was here complicating things. He was beginning to go crazy.

The brunet scowled heavily, “He wasn’t doing anything but fucking walking! How fucking dangerous is that!? Give me the real reason as to why you shot him right now!” He felt his body tense almost as though he expected the man to shoot him for his words, and as he did so Louis allowed one of his hands that had once been placed Harry’s back to trail up to his neck to feel his temperature.

At this moment he truly wished Eleanor was here or he had some sort of true knowledge on how the body worked when one was dead.

Harry was still completely unresponsive. Not a groan or a moan escaped him even as Louis touched his still warm skin and the prince tried to ignore the pain inflicted in his body and the tears that threatened to well up at his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away.

It hurt too much to think about and he had to stay focused on himself getting out of the forest alive.

He moved his gaze back up to the man who had actually just killed Harry right before his eyes.

Louis’s mind briefly flashed back to the same pirate who’d been shot down from Harry that one time in his study from the rogue ship that had spotted him and he suddenly found some possible reasons as to why this was all happening.

“I’m here to take you back to London.”

The prince’s eyes immediately widened and now his full attention was turned to the man who looked to be no more than a common man you’d find in the streets of England.

If he was there to take him back to London that would have meant that someone had alerted the Navy where he was.

Of course they’d shoot Harry in the situation considering his status. If he wasn’t killed, chances are that whoever was sent to get him would have been killed first.

Just as quickly as the question of  _how_ they found him rose to mind, Louis’s brain found the answer…

Back in Whitehaven, when he had been spotted and he nearly jumped but stopped because of he hadn’t completely thought things through.

That meant that the whole Navy must have either gotten to the island already or were on their way.

He could feel his head growing lighter but his body becoming heavier as he watched the adult eye him, as though taking in the young royal’s reaction to his words. He’d put down his weapon to his side, an action somewhat reassuring to Louis’s nerves but not much.

“I…” He couldn’t formulate any words.

For once, Louis truly didn’t know what to say.

If he was from London and worked for the Crown, he was completely in the legal right to shoot Harry… But all the same…

“A life is a life; you really didn’t have to shoot him! He needs medical attention or something, alright?” Louis knew he sounded desperate, but he didn’t care. Having Harry die because of him was a thought his mind refused to accept.

The man quirked a single brow upward almost in amusement, an expression that made Louis grit his teeth impatiently, “Medical attention? Prince Louis, excuse my disrespect but he’s a criminal. Leave him there to rot on the floor like he deserves and come along, the rescue ship is waiting for you. London misses you.”

“I know but—“

“Your family misses you.”

His teeth bit his bottom lip and his eyebrows furrowed at the mention of his family, “I understand that, but criminal or not, no one deserves to be left out to die like this.”

Not even someone who’d done so much like Harry, especially considering what the ultimate reason he was out killing was.

“Harry Styles… He  _kidnapped_ you and you’re defending the way he’s treated after he’s dead? Your Highness, do you understand how ridiculous you sound?” The male released a chuckle, one that didn’t at all do anything but make Louis’s expression darken, “Come along now before the others get impatient.” He flashed Louis a smile that wasn’t returned.

Louis shook his head as he lowered his head to look at Harry’s still motionless body and he allowed his hand to feel the younger male’s hair in a melancholy manner.

His brain refused to align the fact that Harry was dead.

If anything, he needed medical help and fast.

Stubbornly, the royal kept his fingers intertwined with Harry’s hair gently, almost as a way to show the silent and motionless pirate captain that he wouldn’t give up on him, “I’m not going anywhere unless he comes along for help. I don’t give a fuck what you tell me. This is a direct order coming from your Prince, understood?” Louis commanded strongly, his gaze not leaving Harry as though he were waiting for the brunet to show some sort of movement of survival.

After a few beats of silence that followed, Louis heard the man clear his throat gruffly, “Yes, but I’ll allow one of our lesser men to come back here for him. You and I can go now—“

“I’d bite one of your fucking bullets before I did something as fucking stupid as that.” Louis grunted, his blue eyes instantly tore up from the now dull bunch of curls beneath his fingers.

It was obvious that that wouldn’t be the case.

If he went, Harry’s body would be left alone with no hope of getting any sort of attention.

“Why? You don’t trust me?”

“I’ve had enough of you,” Louis snapped in aggravation with a glower pointed the male’s way, “Just get someone to fucking help him or else I’m not going with you.”

A bit taken back from his sudden outburst, the man’s eyes widened a considerable amount before he narrowed his eyes ominously,

Louis’s own attention that had briefly returned back to Harry was challenged the moment he heard the sound of a pistol being loaded. The click made him turn his eyes back to the still nameless man that now brought his gun up in Louis’s direction distastefully,

With a scowl, the dark haired man sighed, “I honestly didn’t want to waste anymore bullets on you than I did for Captain Styles, but you’re more annoying than I thought you’d be. I’m sure if I sell you with a shot leg, you’ll still be worth a lot.”

Louis sat, gaping at the man he once thought to be an ally in angry, shock, and mortification. He opened his mouth to protest and shout, but before he could, he watched as the man’s fingers moved toward the triggered.

“Get down!”

Louis didn’t have time to give anything but a gasp in complete and total surprise as his whole upper body was grabbed and swung to the ground powerfully right as the sound of a gunshot rang through the air.

The voice that had commanded him was oh too familiar and sent immediate chills throughout his once quivering body.

With his eyes opened, Louis was able to see the front of the neck that he’d just been feeling for temperature not too long ago and the sight of Harry’s pale, moving neck had never once been as a big a relief as it was now.

“For fuck’s sake.” Harry hissed out in aggravation as his arms still held Louis close to his body; his green eyes were trained on the man that had fired the shot who was currently watching at Harry in nothing short but mortification.

“Harry!” Louis found himself exclaiming, happiness and relief overtaking a majority of the disclosure within his tone. His mind completely ignored the situation they were in, instead praising whatever miracle that had occurred to bring the pirate captain up, alive and healthy once more.

Harry didn’t spare him a glance, his gaze still focused on the enemy that still had his pistol pointed in their direction.

“Y-you shouldn’t be alive.” The man stuttered out in clear fear right as Harry allowed his arms to let go of Louis and instead push himself up from the ground.

The pirate captain scoffed while he straightened out his coat, irritation clearly seen on his facial features, “Neither should you and yet you still pathetically stand in my presence like a child who just learnt to hold a gun for the first time.”

“You mock me but if I remember right, I was the one who had you face first in the dirt a few seconds ago! Don’t think I won’t shoot you again, Styles!”

“You can try,” Harry simply remarked and at the very moment, Louis found himself wincing at the unexpected ring of a gun going off along with the straggled shout of pain that erupted from the man’s mouth as he slid to the ground, his hand dropped his gun to the floor as both his hands moved to grasp his thigh that was slowly beginning to stain with dark red.

Louis’s hand moved to his mouth in shock at the sudden change in atmosphere of the situation while Harry took the chance to shoot once more, this time his bullet apparently hit the male’s other leg.

“But I doubt you will.” The pirate captain finished in a rather bored tone right after he began approaching where the man now sat on the ground, his hands at his wounds painfully.

The fringed haired royal anxiously began to pick himself up from the floor and watched from afar as the young pirate captain brought his cutlass out from his side and drove it into the same spot where he’d first shot the man in the lower limb.

The sight was enough to make Louis want to gag especially with the amount of blood that was now beginning to stain at the man’s once dingy light brown trousers.

He watched back as Harry leaned forward and downward until both he and the older man were face to face, “From what I heard between you and the Prince and common sense, I can assume that you were given a lead on our whereabouts from someone. My only questions to you are who sent you, why did they send you, and what you wanted with Louis. Answer now and I’ll kill you as painlessly as possible.”

Louis unsurely took a step forward, his eyebrows furrowed downward, “I don’t think that’s—“

“If you don’t answer, I’ll twist this cutlass until it leaves a hole big enough for a gold coin to fit inside the gap.” Harry threatened icily as his hand danced at the handle of his sword that still remained stuck inside of the male’s thigh.

Face flushed red with pain, the man nodded, “I was sent by a man back in the United Kingdom. You’d visited him before I had and when I went in he told me that you had the Prince and you were looking for Stuart’s Coffer, he said if I got both of them from you in a single swing he’d reward me.”

From the description, Louis himself found his mind going back to Harry’s former Captain that he had visited briefly in Ireland not too long ago…

Not only that, if he recalled correctly, not too long ago in the cave, Harry himself had said that his old mentor was a bit crazy.

“So Captain Cowell sent you?” The pirate inquired what had been on the prince’s own mind, his hand lightly gave the sword’s handle a push and the man beneath him gave a staggered gasp of pain.

“Y-yes.”

“Why should I believe you?” Harry continued with a slight tilt to his head and as he inclined his head downward, the small turn he gave his weapon was undeniable that even Louis couldn’t hold back his flinch the moment Harry cruelly gave it a quick and rough jerk to the side.

The man grunted his mouth contorting into a way that easily translated to the expression of agony written on his face, “I have no reason to lie. I swear.”

“You’re lying to me right now. Captain Cowell didn’t send you. Tell me who did right now or else I will leave you here to die with my sword in your leg.”

Defensively, Louis cleared his throat, “I think he’s telling the truth, Harry. Who else could have told him about where we were? You only spoke to him when were in the United Kingdom, right?”

“No, I didn’t.” Harry coldly answered, “I spoke to someone else and even if this useless thief is afraid of telling me, it doesn’t matter. I know who he is and that’s enough.”

“Speaking of which, do you want to explain to me how you aren’t dead like you were about two minutes ago before you swung into action so quickly?” Louis sarcastically inquired though there was still validity in his words.

He truly had no clue how Harry did what he did.

One second just there, practically dead the next he was saving Louis’s life from getting the pain of a bullet in his arm.

“You thought I  _died_?” The words came out of Harry’s mouth so heavily laced with ridicule that Louis felt it reach his ears like an insulting slap to the face. Harry released a deep, humorless chuckle, his teeth gleaming as he gazed over at the prince with a growing smirk, “I’m hurt that you think that I’d die that easily.”

“But, you…” Louis trailed off unable to think of any words, his mind just becoming clouded with the repeated sight of Harry’s body crashing into the dirt after the gunshot.

Louis had gone up to him and his body had been completely unresponsive even as Louis’s shaking hands had felt around his hair… But now… He was okay.

Harry was okay.

“I’m a trained predator, Princess.” Harry informed plainly, almost as though he were bored with the conversation like it was common knowledge and Louis was just plain stupid for not knowing, “I know how the mind of those who kill work. Acting dead when you only get skimmed across the chest isn’t easy but you manage.” He moved his hands back to open out his coat and show his shirt that sure enough, had a long cut across the front where Louis could assume the bullet had crossed.

Harry’s pale skin beneath appeared slightly irritated, but it was nothing big, not even big enough to leave a scar.

The invincible Harry Styles continued his streak of not being scarred for years.

But it made sense… Had Harry continued up even when he’d just been skidded with a bullet, he would have been shot again and it could have been fatal.

He’d just been waiting for the perfect opportunity to show he was alive, but it was probably ruined when Louis had been in danger of getting shot.

It worked out the more Louis thought about it… Something he had to applaud Harry for because what the prince came to a revelation to in minutes, Harry had come together with in a mere moment.

“I’ll give it to you,” Harry remarked, his hand sliding down from his chest lightly, his face turned into a scowl as he craned his neck to gaze at the fallen male dangerously, “I honestly hadn’t been too considerate on an ambush occurring when I walked out. You nearly got me.”

His eyes scanned the man pretentiously, “Unfortunately, you didn’t get me and your fate was sealed from the moment you even  _thought_ of aiming your pitiful weapon at me regardless of your intentions.”

“Which were shit in the first place,” Louis pitched in dryly, “I’m not a fucking object, you ass.” He crudely deadpanned as seriously as he could.

“Calling him an ass is too high of his character. He’s a pathetic, lying worm is all.” Harry claimed easily, “Resorting to sneak attacks and deceit. Even in the face of death you can’t tell the truth, not even when you’re caught in your own lie. How disgusting.” The pirate captain scoffed out with an impassive expression lighting to his face.

With a strained look of anger, Louis found himself tensing the moment the man lifted his head upward to catch eye contact with Harry once more, his teeth were gritted against each other tightly as he spoke harshly, “I find it terribly ironic how you call me the disgusting one and yet you and the Prince have no doubt had some sort of affair, Styles.”

Louis’s heart skipped a beat from the criminal’s so spot on statement despite his whole ignorance to the whole spectrum of the actually situation between both he and Harry and Harry himself went rigid in silence.

“The Prince is no better than the lowest criminals out there! He threw away his dedication to the Crown, his own blood! Just to sleep with one of the cruelest, sinful beings the seven seas have ever know. If that isn’t disgusting, I don’t know what is! The Prince betrayed not only his family, but his whole country! If you think I’m disgusting, I’m more than positive his own family doesn’t think anymore of both him and you, Styles.”

The words held more power than Louis ever would have expected them to, yet he continued on.

“The Tomlinson’s think they lost a precious son to pirates when in actuality they gave away a traitor to the likes of those he belongs with. You may think he likes being with you and he may, but to give up his own family’s wealth and love for  _you_ , the Prince of the CrimsonSea? One of the United Kingdom’s most wanted? Then both he and you are out of your fucking minds.”

Unable to hear any more of it, Louis turned on his heel and began stomping off.

He didn’t know where he was going; all he knew was that he had to get away from the stray thoughts that were beginning to burn at his psyche from the man’s words.

Again, he heard the sound of a gun going off, and he found himself shuddering as he continued walking throughout the trees that seemed to consume him the more and more he walked in.

The amount of times he heard a gun being used within the past four weeks was more than he had in his entire life previous. It was crazy and the more he thought about it, the more nauseated he felt.

He’d practically forgotten about his family and it was like he’d just given up on them in exchange for his life on One Direction.

He really was sickening.

Not too far off, he could hear his name being called out by Harry, but he just kept walking forward, unable to slow down and unwilling to face him with his emotions on the verge of just cracking down.

If there was anything Louis could say he treasured more than his own life, he could easily say it was his family.

He loved his sisters and he loved his parents so much it was painful to think that in their eyes he was nothing more but a dirty traitor.

“Wait, Louis is that you?”

“Liam, put your gun down! It’s Louis!”

Surprised at the close proximity of the calls, Louis stopped his steps and turned to the side, his eyes catching sight of Zayn, Liam, and Niall.

Liam lowered his gun from in front of him quickly before he turned his attention back to Zayn and Niall who were both struggling to wrap a piece of Niall’s shirt around Zayn’s clearly bleeding arm.

The scene combined with the four motionless and bleeding bodies that were piled near Liam’s feet struck Louis as incredibly random and on a normal occasion he would have stopped to ask if they were okay, but he simple shook his head at them once before he turned and continued walking away quickly.

He heard them call after him in confusion but he kept going.

Abruptly, Louis found his arm being caught from behind rather roughly.

He prepared to hit the hand that grabbed him, but before he could, Harry’s face was near his, “Don’t just go running off alone, do you know how stupid that is right now? You don’t know if that guy had his friends around on the island. You need to stay close—“

“Okay, whatever just let go of me.” Louis snapped as he yanked back his arm from Harry’s hold.

Just from looking at Harry, Louis’s being was filled with a morbid sense when he knew without a doubt that the man who’d assaulted him earlier was dead by Harry’s hand as the two spoke.

He knew he’d rather it be that way than having Harry be the one gone, but a life was a life and the fact one was lost so quickly made his blood freeze up a bit.

Harry paused for a moment, his mouth opening as though he was about to remark on something before he stopped as though to reevaluate what he wanted to say.

Louis sighed with a look away right as he began, “Why are you upset?” The pirate captain seemed to settle on questioning.

“I’m just angry with myself, alright? I think I have a right to be.” Louis proclaimed in irritation.

Harry arched a brow at this curiously, “Angry with yourself? Are you crazy? You’ve literally done nothing wrong.”

Heaving a breath, Louis clenched his fists tightly to his sides, “He was right. My sisters, my mother, my father, everyone back home, they’d all hate me and they’d be disgusted with me because of what I’ve become, Harry. All this time I’ve been subconsciously telling myself that I could adjust to the ship and everything would be alright, but I’m so fucking ignorant it isn’t even funny! I’m the heir to the throne!” He hadn’t meant for his voice to elevate but it had and it was obvious that Harry didn’t intend on intervening in his rant as the curly haired male simply stood and watched his passively,

Louis took his silence as a means to continue while he felt his emotions begin to drain out, “I’m supposed to lead a whole fucking nation in only so many years! I have so many responsibilities, not only to my family, but to all those people out there in Europe and in the colonies! All I’ve been doing is getting comfortable here and ignoring it all and I’m just the worst fucking person ever, okay!? If my father saw me, he’d tell me how much of a disgrace I am, if my sisters saw me, they’d be ashamed of calling me big brother, if my mother saw me, she’d… She’d… She’d just…” He couldn’t keep going; the very idea of his mom being disgusted by him was too much.

He literally felt like collapsing into a fetal position and just crying. It felt like everyone was against him and that everyone hated him.

“Harry… If they all saw me now, I’d be dead to them.”

His shoulders slumped but just as quickly as they did, Louis found support given to his front as Harry’s arms wrapped around his body tightly and securely.

“I don’t understand how anyone on this planet could ever be disgusted by you.” Harry lowly replied, his arms not releasing their hold and for once, Louis found himself able to let out one huge breath while he allowed his eyes to close.

He could feel security within Harry’s embrace and as the pirate captain kept him close he could only remain silent as he continued, “If  _any_ of them thinks any little of you than before, then they  _don’t_ deserve you, Louis.”

His words, though lightening to the morbid feeling clouding his head still made Louis’s stomach flip before he shook his head in denial and opened his mouth to protest, “No, Harry, that’s—“

Just as quickly as he started, Harry interjected strongly, “No, just stop and listen to me, okay?”

“M’kay.” Louis softly responded after a few seconds of silence.

“You have honestly done nothing wrong. Trust me, I’ve done things I’m not proud of and I understand how it feels to think that your family hates you… Like everyone does… Like you’re the worst person on the planet. But I need you to believe me when I say that your family would never feel anything other than love for you. You can hold me on my word for this because unlike me, your family is still alive for you to see it for yourself. I have no clue if my mother or sister would even be able to look me in the eye after all that I’ve done.”

His words made a tinge of guilt filter into his system but Louis didn’t have much time to linger on it as Harry moved his head back to stare into Louis’s eyes firmly, “Louis, you are literally the most forgiving, understanding, and kindest person I have ever met in my whole entire life. I’ve put you through so much shit that makes me beyond repulsed by my own self and yet you still manage to look me in the face every day with a clear mind. I’ve hurt you more times than I wish I had and despite that, you forgave me. You forgave me and you were willing to start over. You’re compassionate and open minded, you’re sympathetic and comforting, and you’re perfect. I hate the thought of you thinking otherwise. I love you too much to see you go through what I have to feel practically every day.”

Louis immediately brought his own arms up to return the hug just as tightly, his head sinking into Harry’s shoulder while he fought tears from coming to his eyes.

The two stood there for a few more moments, their arms still wrapped around one another as Louis found his head slowly clearly of all self loathing and doubts and every so often his own thoughts to Harry’s previous confession that had quickly resurfaced minutes ago.

Harry loved him when he didn’t know him.

He knew last time he nearly lost his chance in a single instant to let Harry properly know his response,

“You said you loved me earlier, and I never really got to answer you before, right?” Louis quietly questioned and he could feel Harry’s body tense up at the mention of it.

It was almost funny that Louis’s lips pulled up into a bit of a smile.

“Well, Harry Styles,” Louis let out a breath as he released the curly haired brunet with a slight tilt to his feet, “I can’t necessarily say that I love you back or anything… It’s confusing; I don’t even know what’s wrong with me so if you gave me some more time to properly figure it out, I may love you back too.” He offered a small smile to the younger male that watched at him with seemingly expressionless eyes.

“I understand if that’s not good enough for you, but—“

His words were silenced by Harry’s own lips that dipped downward and pressed onto his own firmly.

The kiss was a few seconds long and when Harry pulled away, he wore a soft smile on his face, “I’ve literally waited about ten years for you. I think I can wait a few months.”

“I’m not that special, honestly.”

“To me you are.”

Louis released a small and short laugh; his own cheeks flushing as he found his hand slipping down to catch hold of Harry’s own.

But just as quickly as his laughter subsided, his thoughts were brought back to his family.

He knew he couldn’t stay on One Direction much longer without getting to see them. He’d probably go crazy if that were the case.

“I want to go home.” He mumbled, he knew he sounded like a child, but at this point in time he didn’t care all too much. Louis’s eyes darted to the floor, too meek to meet up with Harry’s at first while he uttered his phrase before he bit his bottom lip sullenly.

The homesickness that he’d suffered from since his beginning times onboard was coming back from its repressed state and hitting him full blast.

He knew if he went home, he’d be leaving Eleanor behind… He’d be leaving the ship he’d grown accustomed to for a month behind, he’d be leaving the crew, Danielle, Liam, Niall, and Zayn behind and he’d be leaving Harry alone.

Even if that was the case, right now he knew he needed to see his family back at the palace as soon as possible. So long of being separated was taking its toll on him and even with Harry’s reassuring words, he had to make sure they knew he was okay even if it meant parting away.

Harry’s green eyes, normally cold and empty whenever the topic of Louis straying too far came to conversation, were now more calm and sympathetic as he nodded at Louis in understanding, a notion that made Louis’s spirit rise before he spoke softly,

“Whatever you want, Princess.”

With that, Louis let out another heavy breath before he buried his face into Harry’s shoulder and he felt the taller boy mirror his motion right as he allowed his arms to hug him tighter, “Thank you, Harry.” 

**Chapter 32.**

Life was short, honestly.

A realization like that wasn’t really able to fully impact someone unless he was faced with a position that left him with a more eye opening perspective about life.

A month was only four weeks… A week was seven days… A day was only twenty-four hours and for about half of those hours a person never truly experienced due to sleep.

Without even knowing, a person’s life could slip by him so quickly and uselessly.

How could life that once passed by incredibly sluggishly now begin zoom right in front of a person’s eyes?

It was almost scary how a month that once felt like an entire lifetime now only seems like a dream.

His time on One Direction felt like a distant memory that was questionably real even though he’d only left a week ago.

Louis’s eyes glanced out to left where the large and clear window left a wide view of the palace’s rose garden in view from his spot on the second floor of the building. The day was a typical light grey one and Louis could see the gardeners tending to the many bushes and flowers as they always did.

Just watching left him with a bit of emptiness in his stomach.

Work for them was exactly as it had been when he had been gone.

They had still worked out in the gardens, tending to the roses, clipping the plants, and making sure everything remained neat while he was away, they had done it before he left, and now that he was back, they were still doing it.

He knew that that hadn’t been entirely the case.

When he first showed up on the port in one of One Direction’s smaller boats, he’d immediately received assistance and he was brought back to the palace where he shared a reunion with everyone he’d missed.

He and his sisters cried while they all hugged and then he and his mother cried while they embraced on another for what seemed to be the longest time ever.

News of his whereabouts in Whitehaven had met with London apparently, and they’d been searching for him in the Irish Sea, but Louis reassured them that the ship had only been stuck in a storm and he’d been the only survivor.

To keep things consistent, he also lied and claimed that a group of sailors found him and after making their rounds in the DutchRepublic and France, they set him back to London.

They all bought into his story and although he kind of suffered from some guilt from his lies, he knew it was better they hear it that way than what truly happened.

His father had gone touring Europe while he was gone and was expected to return soon, a fact Louis felt secure with. He’d begun doing more research on the laws in place that were intolerant to the practice of Catholic religions.

He knew he’d more than likely be ignored with his suggestions to his father on the policies, but it was worth a shot.

All week he’d been keeping his head in his books, trying to look at every aspect of bias and unequal laws that could be overturned, though it was difficult because his resources all appeared to be written in a rather unjust way.

Other than that, it was as if everything had become normal once more.

His mother allowed him as much time off from his actual studies until he was comfortable again, and considering how much Louis loathed his tutor, he knew it’d be a long time before he was ‘comfortable’ again.

Louis licked his lips as he rose up from his seat, the chair leaving a rather loud squeak against the tiled floor of the vast study room, and moved to place his book back on the shelf with the others.

At one point he knew he’d need to get more informed on the situation in Ireland… But so far he was already taking in a lot of information as it was and he knew if he took in too much his brain would explode in on itself.

Thinking about Ireland made him remember Niall…

When Niall had saw him off before he left One Direction, the two hardly had much time to speak and Niall simply questioned if Louis really wanted to go, to which Louis could only say he wasn’t strong like Niall was.

To be able to leave his family behind for someone he loved wasn’t something Louis could stomach doing.

His departure with Liam and Zayn had been very similar and he made both of them promise to take care of Harry for him.

The memory was enough to bring a bittersweet smile to his lips as he continued searching for a new book on the shelf to read. His hands moved down the stacks of uniformed hardbacks slowly while he read over the side covers almost absentmindedly.

He made sure to tell Danielle to take care of Eleanor like he would have since his best friend respected his choice to go back but had no intention of doing so herself.

Louis had to admit with a bit of sadness that he probably would have made it off the ship without crying if it hadn’t been for Harry.

The sound of the wooden door at the further end of the room being opened with a slight creak that audibly seemed much louder in the silent area broke Louis’s train of thought and he immediately turned his attention over to see the newcomer in curiosity.

A servant, a new one that must have been hired when he was gone as her face wasn’t familiar prior to his time on One Direction, smiled at him nervously as she clutched the front of her dress anxiously.

Louis offered her a reassuring beam in return in an attempt to show her she had nothing to be apprehensive about, but it seemed as though it only made her more timid seeing as she instantly broke eye contact with him in favor of staring at the floor,

“May I help you?” He questioned lightly, his hand brushing over one of the books from the shelf before he brought it down to his side to fully face the young woman that nodded shortly,

She cleared her throat while twiddling her fingers uneasily, “Her Majesty has requested your presence within the White Drawing Room, Your Highness.”

Slightly thrown back by why his mother wanted him, Louis found himself standing a bit dumbstruck for a moment before he blinked a couple times and nodded at the servant in response with a quick, “Oh, okay.”

He exited out of the study room gradually after the worker had gone.

His steps down the floor left a sinking feeling in his stomach still.

Never would he have thought that he missed walking on a moving ship where you could feel the boat rocking in a flow with the ocean below it.

The first day back he went to sleep in his bed, it was as if his body couldn’t forget the never ending motion of the ship and his mind subconsciously recreated it while he laid down. However, there was one thing that his mind failed to make up once more, and that left Louis with an odd sense of loneliness…

It was odd how he’d gone practically all his life without sleeping with someone to hold in his arms or sleeping in someone else’s arms, but a few weeks of it left him feeling like something was missing while he slept in his large, spacious bed all alone.

Even up until now, the palace was so much bigger in comparison to the ship he’d taken residence on for those few weeks.

It was bigger… And lonelier.

At this point he couldn’t even talk to anyone about his time on One Direction less his lie be found out. Eleanor hadn’t come back with him so he had no one to speak to about it.

It almost felt as though the time back on the ship hadn’t been real. He was the only one who knew about it in all of England after all…

Though he knew that no matter what he felt, it had all been very much real. Everything from the beginning to end, through all the anger and pain along with happiness and confusion, everything that he experienced was real.

“Louis!”

Stopping his steps, Louis turned back as he watched Lottie approaching him with a rather fretful expression planted on her face.

The young princess had grown so much more than Louis had remembered over the course of a month. He came to learn that when he had been thought to be dead when he never made it to France, it had been figured she’d be the next heir to the throne and she’d already become engaged to a young noble no older than Louis and they were to marry whenever her time to ascend to the throne approached.

Of course, with Louis’s reappearance, the plans were halted though he was still guilty over the fact she’d been tied down so quickly because of him.

“Hm?” He questioned curiously the moment her steps came to a stop.

Her dress that fit tightly over her body caused her to release a heavy breath while she watched him impatiently, “Can you please confirm this with me now, because the others refuse to listen to me. Pirates kidnap princesses, right?”

The amount of pirate stories Louis found himself telling his siblings since his return was incredibly ridiculous, even he knew this.

How many times he spoke of Harry like he were a legend was a bit excessive and even he was a bit embarrassed about it.

He could tell his younger sisters were slowly becoming interested in pirates, especially Lottie who took in his stories of romantic adventures with pirates and thieves with open ears and an eager mind.

Louis took a moment to dwell on her question, his lips perking into a bit of a smile as he shrugged his shoulders. “Well—“

“Yes, they do.”

The prince found his eyes widening in surprise at the unexpected voice that seemed to be so incredibly close, but it was impossible…

Lottie blinked her eyes, her head tilted past Louis’s body to gaze behind him in confusion and Louis felt his heart come to a halt as he heard the sound of footsteps continue from down the hall behind him.

“Tell her, Louis. You should know more than anyone about that kind of stuff.”

He didn’t want to turn around.

If he did and everything was only in his head… He didn’t know what he’d do.

This would have to be the first time his brain did something like that, and he had to admit he’d need to see a doctor because feeling sad about parting ways was one thing, but having hallucinations was another thing all entirely.

But the voice was unmistakable and Louis just—

A hand was placed on his shoulder and the fringed haired prince found himself turning around ever so slowly to come face to face with Harry, a sight that made him bite his tongue and make his heart skip a whole beat.

Harry looked entirely oblivious to his shock and used his free hand to flip back some of his hair, “Look like you just saw a ghost, Princess.” Harry greeted with a small smile to his face.

The last time he saw Harry had been right before he’d been helped onto the rowboat of One Direction so he could get himself back to London without jeopardizing the lives of the crew.

He’d managed to make his goodbyes with everyone completely tear free, only choking a bit when he embraced Eleanor and came to terms with never seeing his best friend ever again, but then when he came to face Harry with Dusty in his hands, he felt his heart break ever so slowly.

The expression of acceptance that Harry wore in regards to his decision to go didn’t meet with his green eyes that he allowed to show Louis every bit of emotion he felt to his departure.

They exchanged a few words privately as everyone left only the two of them some space alone, and before Louis knew it he had tears clouding his eyes as Harry told him to stay safe and that he hoped Louis wouldn’t forget about him.

It wasn’t the words he said that brought him to tears; it was the way they were said.

Harry genuinely hoped that Louis wouldn’t forget about him and the tone he had said it was nearly heartbreaking, but Louis kept his decision to go back to London steady despite it all.

The two of them hugged for what felt to be a long time, and in a quick spur of the moment action he gave Harry a kiss on the lips that had been instantly returned.

But now, Harry just somehow miraculously showed up in the  _palace_  of all places… Completely unharmed? It wasn’t real. It was impossible.

“How did you…?” It felt as if his breath left his mouth in a hushed whisper and Louis could only watch up at the taller brunet in complete and total awe and bemusement.

Harry’s smile quirked into a bit of a smirk, “I’m a trained predator, remember?” He questioned in a rather joking manner that made Louis shake his head as he swatted Harry’s hand from his shoulder.

“Are you stupid or what!? You have to get out of here! If you’re seen and you get caught, you realize you’re headed straight for the gallows, right!?” Louis worriedly informed with a scowl arising to his face, he glanced around the halls anxiously before he came to a realization that Lottie was still standing there watching Harry in what appeared to be admiration.

“Yeah, I realize that but seeing you is worth the risk.” Harry insisted with his hands slipping into his pockets leisurely.

Louis groaned before he turned back to Lottie, “I think you should go back to the others and go talk with them. I’ll talk to you later.”

Slowly, his sister tore her eyes from Harry’s face to watch at her brother almost as though she was in a daze and Louis resisted the urge to repeat himself in a more forceful tone.

If he didn’t know any better… He’d say that she was smitten…

Lottie nodded shortly before giving a small laugh into her hand as her eyes darted back to Harry joyfully, “Yes, of course. But, I never got your name, sir?” She politely asked Harry as he quickly responded,

“Harry.”

His younger sister seemed to accept his name with a happy nod, “Goodbye, Louis, Harry.” She waved with a smile to her lips before she rotated on her heel and began walking back down the hallway.

“See you later, Lottie.” Louis called down to her as she disappeared down the corner. He sighed and glanced back over to Harry, his eyebrows once more furrowing in frustration, “We need to get you out of here before you’re seen. How did you even get in here, honestly? Did no one see you!? Guards are all around!”

Harry gave a chuckle the instant that Louis grabbed his hand and began leading him down the corridor, “I come to see how you’re doing and you just want to get rid of me. How polite of you, Princess.”

“Oh, hush. I’m trying to help you, you insufferable prat.” Louis curtly countered, and he felt a sense of happiness flood over him.

He hadn’t realized exactly how much he missed the banter both he and Harry shared. He hadn’t realized how much he missed holding Harry’s hand in his…

Honestly, he never saw himself in a situation where his emotional well being involved being friendly with a pirate.

“No, seriously, Princess everything is fine. Stop worrying about me so much. I just popped up to see how you were doing is all.” The pirate captain remarked, his steps grinding into the tile below to stop Louis from advancing forward.

Louis gave a grunt when his steps were forcefully halted and he turned to give Harry an irritated stare, “You can’t be serious.”

“And yet I am. Honestly, how are you?”

The stare Harry upheld made Louis bite his tongue as he quickly glanced his eyes away, “I’m doing okay, I guess. Still trying to get back in the groove of adjusting to my old life.”

His response made the pirate captain quirk a brow, “Old life? You were here about five weeks ago weren’t you?”

Laughing, Louis shook his head in embarrassment as his cheeks grew warmer, “Yeah, but…” He trailed off, his eyes briefly contacting with Harry’s, “It feels way longer for some reason.”

“What do you mean?” Harry curiously asked, causing Louis to slump his shoulders with a heavy sigh, “I don’t know, to be honest. It feels like a big piece of my life just got cut out and I can’t remember any of it. This whole week has blown by so fast and before then seems like it didn’t even happen… And yet here you are, standing in front of me as real as anything else in this place.”

With a nod of understanding, the curly haired male folded his arms over his chest, “You’re just taking time to readjust. The pirate life really captivated you.”

Not entirely sure if his words were meant to be a joke or not, Louis shrugged his shoulders with his eyes dancing back over to Harry in an effort evaluate what he wore.

“All in all, aside from me feeling kind of thrown back and dazed, it’s been alright… What about you? How’s the crew? Eleanor? Everyone’s okay?” He sent him a beam of happiness resulting in Harry giving him a crooked grin in return.

“We’ve recently come to the conclusion that Stuart’s Coffer isn’t in the British Isles, since you know, our results on the island from before came up short because Captain Cowell had his sources completely screwed over.” Harry explained though it was said with a cringe.

“We leave this area for quite a while this afternoon, so I just wanted to see you off before we left.”

Harry’s eyes considerably softened as he watched at Louis with a growing frown to his lips, “I’m glad that you’re okay and you’re happy.”

His words made Louis sigh, “Calling me truly happy is debatable, I think…”

“You’re not happy?”

“Not as much as I thought I’d be.” He groaned out with a hand sliding through his hair, “I’m with my family and I’m happy to be with them, but I just feel so… I don’t know… Out of place, like I said before… I don’t feel like I’m fitting in all too well, but I’ve been trying.”

He paused, almost inwardly deciding if he should say the next part that was probing the back of his brain, “When exactly do you guys plan on coming back here? Near London, I mean.”

Louis turned his attention back to Harry to see how he was fairing and the pirate captain simply tilted his head to the side slightly, “I’m not exactly sure. After we find the Coffer I’d say, which could take a couple months or so.”

Taking in the answer, Louis nodded, his blue eyes meeting with Harry’s green ones.

A beat of silence passed over the two of them right before Louis knew exactly what he was going to ask, and he knew for a fact that Harry knew too.

“Can I come along?” He questioned,

Harry’s expression of neutrality didn’t falter and he instead licked his lips, “Are you sure about that?”

“Well, as long as you come back to London in a couple months, I don’t see any problems with that.” Louis quickly replied with a more positive tone to his words.

Once more, Harry was quiet and Louis grew a bit uneasy that he was about to be rejected.

If he was, he didn’t know what he’d do with himself within the confines of the spacious and empty palace all alone.

To go to sleep in a bed with nothing more but the covers and pillows surrounding him for more nights seemed like a rather scary endeavor for the first time in years as did having to face the day without knowing someone would be near him at the sound of a short call.

Again, the prince offered the pirate a passive look, “So, can I come along?” He repeated, this time a bit more powerfully,

“I don’t know if the pirate life is for you,”

Not expecting that kind of response, Louis found his eyes widening in surprise and his stomach beginning to sink, however Harry’s lips quirked upward into a smirk, something that made Louis hold in his breath for a moment before the younger male spoke, “But I’m sure we’ll be able to make some adjustments for your sake, Your Highness.”

His teeth gleamed into a toothy grin as he nodded his head curtly, “So, whatever you want, Louis.”

Noting the teasing in his voice, Louis couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he walked up to Harry and threw his arms around the taller male’s neck right before he felt Harry’s own arms wrapped around his waist to bring their bodies closer,

“Thanks,  _Princess_.”


End file.
